“ The United States declares technological war on China “, Headlines Mediapart about the recent series of bans by the Biden administration on exports of semiconductors and high-performance chips, which follow the countermeasures aimed at the Chinese telecommunications group Huawei:
“ Ban on the export of all chips usable for artificial intelligence, defense and high-performance computers, greater control over sales of semiconductor manufacturing equipment, ban on any cooperation in these areas with China …: the US administration had never took such strong measures against Beijing. “
“ In effect, this amounts to prohibiting any American or non-American company from supplying Chinese groups with equipment or software that includes American technologies. “, Notes the Financial Times.
The shortage of microchips that appeared as a result of the confinements would have allowed the American administration to become aware of the “ the country’s strategic vulnerability in the key semiconductor sector “. And this, while already in 2016 the Chinese government set itself the ambition to become self-sufficient in semiconductors “. OR, “ 90% of the most efficient chips, the 5nm ones, come from Taiwan that China craves but the US supports:
“ Because if Beijing has pursued for more than a decade a policy of guaranteeing a virtual global monopoly on rare earths, essential minerals for all electronic component production, it has never managed to dominate the field of semi-drivers. Each year, China has to import 80% of the electronic components needed by these industries. These imports accounted for over $ 200 billion in 2019, more than its oil spending. “
The Taiwanese Minister of Economy, for his part, sees semiconductors as “ a key industry for Taiwan, not only from the point of view of economic development but also as a guarantee of security “, And this “ for both the United States and China “while Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company (TSMC) considered” the center of the semiconductor world “, is the number one in the world, and that” 90% of the most efficient chips, the 5nm ones, come from Taiwan “.
The Biden administration has more obtained a $ 52 billion plan voted earlier this year to help American groups move nationwide and develop increasingly efficient chips Several manufacturers have already made announcements in line with this plan, including Intel and Micron.
