The US Commerce Department ruled that imported ceramic semiconductor packages do not pose a threat to national security, rejecting the claims filed in November by Coors Electronic Package Co and Ceramic Process Systems Corp, which were seeking tariff protection from the imports: instead, Commerce recommended steps that the US chip packaging industry can take to improve competitiveness in a market controlled by Japanese manufacturers – a Manufacturing Centre for Excellence headed by the US Navy; a Materials Research and Development Programme to be led by Commerce’s National Institute of Standards and Technology and the Energy Department’s Oak Ridge National Laboratory in Tennessee; a Product and Process Qualification Programme run by the standards body and the Energy Department’s Sandia National Laboratory in New Mexico; and a government-industry ceramic package working group to co-ordinate the first three activities; a further national security study will also be considered one year from now.
