US lawmakers are pressing the administration of US President Joe Biden to block Huawei Technologies Co (華為) suppliers from buying American chipmaking gear, escalating efforts to prevent the sanctioned Chinese telecom giant from making progress on semiconductor manufacturing.
The top lawmakers on the US House of Representatives China Select Committee outlined their concerns in a letter on Wednesday to US Secretary of Commerce Gina Raimondo, whose agency oversees export controls on advanced chips and manufacturing tools.
They pointed to Chinese firms Shenzhen Pengxinxu Technology Co (鵬新旭), Shenzhen SwaySure Technology Co (昇維旭), Qingdao Sien Technology Co (青島思恩) Pengxinxu and “potentially many others” as likely members of Huawei’s “clandestine network,” citing Bloomberg reporting.
Photo: Bloomberg
The US and its allies have broadly blocked sales of the most advanced chips and manufacturing gear to China, including from three US firms — Applied Materials Inc, Lam Research Corp and KLA Corp — as well as Dutch lithography system maker ASML Holding NV and Japanese toolmaker Tokyo Electron Ltd.
Washington has also imposed additional sanctions on a host of Chinese companies, including Huawei and Shanghai-based partner Semiconductor Manufacturing International Corp (中芯), that bar purchases of American technology without a US government license.
Chinese companies not on the so-called entity list can still access fairly mature chip equipment without Washington’s approval.
“We must continue in our efforts to deny Huawei, and similar firms, the ability to access US technology,” wrote committee chairman John Moolenaar and ranking member Raja Krishnamoorthi.
Failing in that effort would only benefit a small number of US chip tool companies “at the expense of chipmakers worldwide who cannot sell their chips, undermining the intent of the Huawei listing, and harm our national security,” they said.
Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs spokeswoman Mao Ning (毛寧) told a news conference in Beijing on Thursday that her country opposed “the US overstretching the concept of national security, setting barriers and undermining normal cooperation between the two countries.”
The goal of the US-led campaign is to prevent China from developing a cutting-edge semiconductor industry that could benefit its military.
WAITING GAME: The US has so far only offered a ‘best rate tariff,’ which officials assume is about 15 percent, the same as Japan, a person familiar with the matter said Taiwan and the US have completed “technical consultations” regarding tariffs and a finalized rate is expected to be released soon, Executive Yuan spokeswoman Michelle Lee (李慧芝) told a news conference yesterday, as a 90-day pause on US President Donald Trump’s “reciprocal” tariffs is set to expire today. The two countries have reached a “certain degree of consensus” on issues such as tariffs, nontariff trade barriers, trade facilitation, supply chain resilience and economic security, Lee said. They also discussed opportunities for cooperation, investment and procurement, she said. A joint statement is still being negotiated and would be released once the US government has made
NEW GEAR: On top of the new Tien Kung IV air defense missiles, the military is expected to place orders for a new combat vehicle next year for delivery in 2028 Mass production of Tien Kung IV (Sky Bow IV) missiles is expected to start next year, with plans to order 122 pods, the Ministry of National Defense’s (MND) latest list of regulated military material showed. The document said that the armed forces would obtain 46 pods of the air defense missiles next year and 76 pods the year after that. The Tien Kung IV is designed to intercept cruise missiles and ballistic missiles to an altitude of 70km, compared with the 60km maximum altitude achieved by the Missile Segment Enhancement variant of PAC-3 systems. A defense source said yesterday that the number of
Authorities have detained three former Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TMSC, 台積電) employees on suspicion of compromising classified technology used in making 2-nanometer chips, the Taiwan High Prosecutors’ Office said yesterday. Prosecutors are holding a former TSMC engineer surnamed Chen (陳) and two recently sacked TSMC engineers, including one person surnamed Wu (吳) in detention with restricted communication, following an investigation launched on July 25, a statement said. The announcement came a day after Nikkei Asia reported on the technology theft in an exclusive story, saying TSMC had fired two workers for contravening data rules on advanced chipmaking technology. Two-nanometer wafers are the most
Taiwanese exports to the US are to be subject to a 20 percent tariff starting on Thursday next week, according to an executive order signed by US President Donald Trump yesterday. The 20 percent levy was the same as the tariffs imposed on Vietnam, Sri Lanka and Bangladesh by Trump. It was higher than the tariffs imposed on Japan, South Korea and the EU (15 percent), as well as those on the Philippines (19 percent). A Taiwan official with knowledge of the matter said it is a "phased" tariff rate, and negotiations would continue. "Once negotiations conclude, Taiwan will obtain a better
RSS