In the wake of the signing of an initial agreement between the two nations to strengthen cooperation in the semiconductor sector to facilitate commercial opportunities and the development of innovation ecosystems, US Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo said on Friday that India could become a significant supplier of electronic components and hardware for the US.
After signing the Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with Piyush Goyal, the minister of trade and industry, in New Delhi, Raimondo stated, “We want to develop our technical connection with India. India could contribute to the “entire electronics supply chain, not only semiconductors,” she claimed. The India-US Commercial Dialogue, which was relaunched after a break of two years, has provided the context for the signing of the MoU between the two countries to develop a semiconductor supply chain and innovation collaboration. 3-year period
“I also want to be clear… This isn’t about decoupling; rather, it’s about keeping our eyes open to the fact that China is actively attempting to obtain American technology for military purposes, and we need to defend ourselves, our partners, and our allies against that possibility, Raimondo said.
With the US’s CHIPS and Science Act and India’s $10 billion Semiconductor Mission, the Agreement aims to create a collaboration mechanism between the two governments on supply chain resiliency and diversity for semiconductors. To increase support for the American semiconductor industry, President Joseph Biden signed the CHIPS and Science Act in 2022.
India’s plans to grow its tech industry “completely aligned with the purpose and goal of the United States to strengthen our supply chain’s resilience,” said Raimondo, who is in charge of a group that includes leaders from ten American businesses.
Goyal and Raimondo agreed that the bilateral trade in products and services had nearly doubled since 2014 during their meeting in New Delhi. Both parties welcomed additional initiatives to strengthen their business partnerships, capitalise on market potential across various industries, and create a conducive climate for investment by startups and small and medium-sized businesses (MSME).
Both parties announced the formation of a new Working Group on Talent, Innovation, and Inclusive Growth at the conclusion of the commercial conversation.
According to Goyal, the action will advance the cooperation on entrepreneurship, skill development, startups, SMEs, and emerging technologies.
Goyal added that the journey and A stronger travel and tourist industry has been made a priority thanks to the relaunch of the working group on tourism.
In order to advance standards cooperation, both nations also launched the standards and conformance cooperation programme (Phase III), which will be carried out in collaboration between the ANSI (American National Standard Institute) from the US side and the BIS (Bureau of Indian Standards) from the Indian side.
