Washington on Friday (Oct.7) announced updates to its export control rules that should further complicate China’s manufacturing and purchasing of semiconductors, the U.S. Commerce Department said in a statement. “These updates will limit the ability of the People’s Republic of China to purchase and manufacture some high-end chips used in military applications,” said the Department of Commerce’s Bureau of Industry and Security (BIS).
“Our actions will protect US national security and foreign policy interests while sending a clear message that American technology leadership is about values as well as innovation,” said Assistant Secretary of Commerce for Exports, Thea. Rozman Kendler, quoted in the statement.
The fierce battle between the two economic powers
The production and export of semiconductors is the subject of a fierce battle between the two economic powers for technological dominance. Washington regularly accuses Beijing of industrial espionage and national security threats. And this conflict has taken on a new dimension from the shortage of semiconductors linked to the Covid-19 crisis. US President Joe Biden has thus succeeded in convincing Congress to adopt, at the end of July, a law that provides for $ 52 billion in subsidies to revive semiconductor production in the United States, and tens of billions for research and development. .
READ ALSO
“A surplus of semiconductor supply will help contain inflation”
The updated export controls on Friday “limit China’s ability to obtain advanced computer chips, develop and maintain supercomputers, and manufacture advanced semiconductors,” the statement said. These components “are used by the People’s Republic of China to produce advanced military systems, including weapons of mass destruction; to improve the speed and accuracy of its military decision-making, planning and logistics, as well as its autonomous military systems; and to engage human rights violations, “BIS said.
READ ALSO
In China, a two-speed economy
U.S. Trade Representative Katherine Tai told a Senate committee in June that the Biden administration was focused on protecting U.S. business interests from China’s plans to dominate major industries like semiconductors.
Get our latest news
Every day, the selection of main informations of the day.
