There has been a lot of buzz about Huawei and the companies it has been dealing with these days. TSMC is one such name that has been under the radar of the US government over dealings with Huawei. Now, a new report suggests a Republican lawmaker has urged the US government to start an investigation on the Chinese chipmaker SMIC over its possible dealing with Huawei.
Republican lawmaker demands investigation on SMIC over its dealing with Huawei
It seems authorities have become more vigilant following the recent discovery of TSMC’s chip in Huawei’s products. However, Michael McCaul, chair of the House Foreign Affairs Committee, believes that the Bureau of Industry and Security (BIS) hasn’t acted on reports of Huawei’s constant effort to evade US trade sanctions.
In a letter seen by Reuters, McCaul demanded the Commerce Department should launch an investigation on SMIC. He wants the Commerce Department to visit the SMIC facility and check if the company illegally manufacturing AI and smartphone chips for Huawei.
A part of his letter to BIS reads “There is growing evidence that SMIC is violating U.S. export control laws.” He adds that if China denies agreeing to a “comprehensive audit of all SMIC facilities and its books, BIS should pause all existing licenses for SMIC.”
China says US politicians are overstretching things unnecessarily
McCaul believes SMIC has been shipping its advanced chip to be used in Huawei’s smartphones. One such example of this is the use of SMIC-produced Kirin 9000s 5G (7nm) chip in Huawei Mate 60 Pro. Additionally, he expects SMIC to produce over a million AI chips for Huawei. McCaul says that this could help China to surpass the US in artificial intelligence.
The Chinese embassy in Washington has recently responded to these allegations via a statement. In a nutshell, the statement hints that certain US politicians are unnecessarily stretching the concept of national security. Moreover, the Chinese embassy also states that they are politicizing trade issues to pressure tech firms in China.
