The Semiconductor Industry Association (SIA) released a statement on March 24, 2026, urging trade negotiators to renew and make permanent the World Trade Organization (WTO) Moratorium on Customs Duties on Electronic Transmissions. Global trade negotiators will discuss the issue at the WTO’s 14th Ministerial Conference (MC14), scheduled for March 26-29, 2026, in Yaoundé, Cameroon.
According to SIA President and CEO John Neuffer, the Moratorium has supported transformative growth in global digital trade for more than 25 years across sectors including semiconductors, artificial intelligence, internet-related services, consumer and industrial electronics, and digitally enabled sectors such as entertainment.
SIA has long called for the WTO to make the Moratorium permanent to provide stability and predictability for the semiconductor industry. The association appreciates the U.S. Administration’s efforts to support the free flow of data and plans to work with policymakers to promote global trade under a permanent Moratorium that maintains an open digital economy for innovation and growth in the AI era.
SIA has signed three multi-association letters highlighting the Moratorium’s benefits. The range of signatories indicates that economies worldwide stand to gain from making the Moratorium permanent.
Additional supporting documents include a World Semiconductor Council call for extension and permanency of the WTO Moratorium, a global statement and report on the WTO Moratorium on Customs Duties on Electronic Transmissions, and a reference to WTO MC14 as a turning point for multilateralism and digital trade.
The statement emphasizes the need for permanent status to sustain the conditions that have enabled growth in digital trade and related industries.
