WASHINGTON – Counterfeit electronics, and the semiconductors they are built with, pose a growing threat to the health and safety of military and civilians alike, the president of the Semiconductor Industry Association testified before a US Senate committee.

“The catastrophic failure risk inherently found in counterfeit semiconductors places our citizens and military personnel in unreasonable peril. A counterfeit semiconductor is a ticking time bomb,” Brian Toohey told the Senate Armed Services Committee, which is investigating counterfeit electronic parts in the Department of Defense supply chain. “Counterfeiters violate American companies’ intellectual property rights and cost American’s jobs. We estimate that counterfeiting costs US-based semiconductor companies more than $7.5 billion each year.”

The SIA recommended five actions to the Committee to stem the tide of counterfeit electronics in the DoD supply chain: continue partnerships between industry, the DoD and Department of Justice to develop a more effective authentication system; strengthen procurement procedures at DoD for mission-critical components, including purchasing exclusively from authorized distributors; ensure industry’s ability to fully partner with Customs and Border Patrol Officials to stop suspected counterfeits at the border by ending CBP's redaction policy; aggressively prosecute counterfeit traffickers, and more strongly enforce IP rights internationally.