The US government could soon impose additional export sanctions on China. Specifically, 200 Chinese chip makers could face stringent actions, revealed an email.
US trade sanctions haven’t been as effective as expected
China has faced multiple sanctions during the Biden administration. However, the country, and specifically, its leading tech companies, have managed to circumvent some of the restrictions.
Recently, one of Huawei’s devices was discovered with a chip made by TSMC. Needless to mention, advanced products from TSMC aren’t allowed to be supplied to Chinese companies.
In addition to the opposition, even the members of the Biden administration have criticized the American government for its poorly implemented sanctions. It is indeed concerning to see how well Chinese companies have managed to procure chips designed and manufactured by America and its allies, despite the trade restrictions.
US to impose export sanctions on 200 chipmakers from China?
According to Reuters, the US government may introduce a new series of sanctions affecting at least 200 domestic chip makers in China. The Biden administration may announce new trade restrictions as soon as next week.
The Commerce Department, which oversees U.S. export policy, plans to publish the new regulations “before the Thanksgiving break.” The proposed action was revealed in an email from the U.S. Chamber of Commerce sent to its members.
This time around, the trade sanctions could majorly focus on the shipments of High-Bandwidth Memory (HBM) chips to China. HBM modules are critical to the Generative Artificial Intelligence (Gen AI).
So far, American companies, including NVIDIA, have dominated the HBM market. Tech giants such as Samsung have faltered in this market. However, certain Chinese companies have been scaling up their operations and ramping up R&D to manufacture HBM modules.
It seems America wants to prohibit Huawei from procuring advanced AI chips. The Chinese tech giant recently unrelieved its tri-fold smartphone, which packed a powerful chipset. The US could be hoping to slow down the progress of Kirin SoC and Ascend AI accelerators.
