China’s bank technology restrictions and a draft antiterrorism law might run counter to the country’s international trade commitments, the US trade representative said in a report released on Wednesday.
The US trade office’s regular review of telecommunications trade continued the pressure over initiatives that have upset US industry groups and that the administration of US President Barack Obama has also raised at the highest level with Chinese counterparts.
Rules asking technology suppliers to Chinese banks to divulge source code, pushing China’s state-owned banks to buy technology from domestic vendors, “may raise substantive concerns” about China’s obligations under a range of WTO agreements, the report said.
The rules may also have been adopted without sticking to China’s commitments to provide adequate time for public comment on draft measures and to publish final measures, it said.
The draft counterterrorism law “has generated serious concerns among US stakeholders and may raise questions with respect to China’s obligations,” the report said.
A senior US Treasury official said on Monday, during a visit to Beijing by US Secretary of the Treasury Jack Lew, that China had agreed to delay implementing the bank rules.
Industry groups have been cautious about the prospect of launching WTO action against China, which can take years.
The US trade office said it would continue to press for the bank rules to be suspended and urge China not to act on the draft counterterrorism law.
In a separate report, the office detailed a wide range of other trade barriers that US firms face in exporting, including to China, where issues range from increased tariffs on aircraft to foreign investment limits and a ban on US beef.
“China remains among the least transparent and predictable of the world’s major markets for agricultural products, largely because of uneven enforcement of regulations and selective intervention in the market by China’s regulatory authorities,” the US office said.
China has claimed a breakthrough in developing homegrown chipmaking equipment, an important step in overcoming US sanctions designed to thwart Beijing’s semiconductor goals. State-linked organizations are advised to use a new laser-based immersion lithography machine with a resolution of 65 nanometers or better, the Chinese Ministry of Industry and Information Technology (MIIT) said in an announcement this month. Although the note does not specify the supplier, the spec marks a significant step up from the previous most advanced indigenous equipment — developed by Shanghai Micro Electronics Equipment Group Co (SMEE, 上海微電子) — which stood at about 90 nanometers. MIIT’s claimed advances last
Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電) has appointed Rose Castanares, executive vice president of TSMC Arizona, as president of the subsidiary, which is responsible for carrying out massive investments by the Taiwanese tech giant in the US state, the company said in a statement yesterday. Castanares will succeed Brian Harrison as president of the Arizona subsidiary on Oct. 1 after the incumbent president steps down from the position with a transfer to the Arizona CEO office to serve as an advisor to TSMC Arizona’s chairman, the statement said. According to TSMC, Harrison is scheduled to retire on Dec. 31. Castanares joined TSMC in
EUROPE ON HOLD: Among a flurry of announcements, Intel said it would postpone new factories in Germany and Poland, but remains committed to its US expansion Intel Corp chief executive officer Pat Gelsinger has landed Amazon.com Inc’s Amazon Web Services (AWS) as a customer for the company’s manufacturing business, potentially bringing work to new plants under construction in the US and boosting his efforts to turn around the embattled chipmaker. Intel and AWS are to coinvest in a custom semiconductor for artificial intelligence computing — what is known as a fabric chip — in a “multiyear, multibillion-dollar framework,” Intel said in a statement on Monday. The work would rely on Intel’s 18A process, an advanced chipmaking technology. Intel shares rose more than 8 percent in late trading after the
FACTORY SHIFT: While Taiwan produces most of the world’s AI servers, firms are under pressure to move manufacturing amid geopolitical tensions Lenovo Group Ltd (聯想) started building artificial intelligence (AI) servers in India’s south, the latest boon for the rapidly growing country’s push to become a high-tech powerhouse. The company yesterday said it has started making the large, powerful computers in Pondicherry, southeastern India, moving beyond products such as laptops and smartphones. The Chinese company would also build out its facilities in the Bangalore region, including a research lab with a focus on AI. Lenovo’s plans mark another win for Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi, who tries to attract more technology investment into the country. While India’s tense relationship with China has suffered setbacks