US regulations have moved beyond letters sent to machine tool companies KLA Corp, Lam Research Corp, and Applied Materials Inc this year. These letters requested that the companies stop shipping equipment to Chinese-owned factories manufacturing advanced logic chips. The new regulations have immediate effect.
The recent introduction of various US policies could lead to the biggest change in technology transfer to China since the 1990s. These new measures will have a significant impact on the way America approaches supplying technology to China.
If done correctly, these plans could negatively impact China’s semiconductor industry by making it difficult or even impossible for companies using American technology to continue doing business with some Chinese manufacturers. This would be a significant blow to China’s leading machine and chip designer.
Jim Lewis stated that the country has been ‘regressed for many years’, in regards to technology and cybersecurity, while at the Center for Strategic and International Studies.
In a meeting on October 6, senior US government officials said that the new regulations would prevent illegal activities, such as foreign companies selling advanced chips to China or giving Chinese companies the tools to manufacture their own advanced chips.
Although US officials were assured that similar safety measures would be taken by allied countries, discussions are still ongoing.
On Tuesday, the Biden administration extended restrictions on Chinese firms IFLYTEK, Dahua Technology and Megvii Technology, which were added to the blacklist in 2019 for their involvement in Beijing’s suppression of the Uighur minority.
On October 7, new export regulations were put in place for chips being sent to China for use in their supercomputer systems. These chips cover a wide range of abilities and functions.
The new rules would also severely restrict U.S. exports of equipment to Chinese memory chip manufacturers, formalize the content of letters to Nvidia Corp and Advanced Micro Devices Inc (AMD) about restricting deliveries of chips to China used in supercomputer systems, and countries around the world that rely on them to develop nuclear weapons and other military technologies.
The Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman called the move an abuse of trade measures aimed at Saturday, which strengthens the United States’ “technological hegemony.”