The United States is set to launch its third major crackdown on China’s semiconductor industry, restricting exports to 140 companies, including chip equipment maker Naura Technology Group. The new measures will also target advanced memory chips and chipmaking tools, as well as limit shipments of high bandwidth memory (HBM) chips critical for artificial intelligence (AI) training.
The package includes new export restrictions on 24 additional chipmaking tools and three software tools, as well as curbs on China-bound shipments of HBM chips. The restrictions will also apply to chipmaking equipment manufactured in countries such as Singapore and Malaysia, affecting companies like Lam Research, KLA, and Applied Materials.
Among the Chinese companies facing new restrictions are nearly two dozen semiconductor companies, two investment companies, and over 100 chipmaking tool makers. Many of these companies are expected to be added to the entity list, which bars U.S. suppliers from shipping to them without a special license.
China has been stepping up its efforts to become self-sufficient in the semiconductor sector, but the country remains years behind industry leaders in AI chips and chip equipment. The U.S. move is aimed at preventing Beijing from accessing and producing advanced chips that could aid military applications or threaten national security.
The new package also includes a rule expanding the foreign direct product rule, which could limit what companies from U.S. allies can ship to China. The rule will apply to 16 companies on the entity list, which are seen as critical to China’s most advanced chipmaking ambitions.
The measures are expected to be welcomed by U.S. lawmakers, who have long pushed for tougher restrictions on China’s chip industry. The rules are also seen as a last major effort by the Biden administration to hobble China’s chipmaking ambitions before the swearing-in of Republican former President Donald Trump, who is expected to maintain many of Biden’s tough-on-China measures.
