The US-China tensions seem not to be ending anytime soon, pertaining to the fact that the American government is tightening all the rules to toughen export from China. Earlier it was WeChat and TikTok facing a complete ban, and now the largest chipmaker in China, SMIC, is facing strict regulations on exports. The US government cited unacceptable risk in the chip maker’s equipment doubting links to the Chinese military.
SMIC Suppliers Asked to Procure Individual Export Licenses
Several semiconductor equipment suppliers of SMIC have been asked to apply for the individua; export licenses by the US Commerce Department. A letter sent out on Friday by the federal department was accessed by Reuters that detailed the same. As per the news, the latest step has been taken to safeguard the US from any probable security threat.
The suppliers would now need individual licenses for export contrary to the earlier provision in the US policy in which the “Military End User” applicants for selling to SMIC did not need any permissions.
Company Denies Any Links to Chinese Military
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The company denied receiving any official notice from the US government about the latest restrictions and also declared having no alliance with the Chinese military forces of any sort. SMIC said
” SMIC reiterates that it manufactures semiconductors and provides services solely for civilian and commercial end-users and end-uses. The Company has no relationship with the Chinese military and does not manufacture for any military end-users or end-uses.”
Looming Risk of Blacklisting
The Chinese chip behemoth is facing US trade restrictions associated with national security threats. Last year Huawei also faced similar conditions when the Commerce Department blacklisted the company adding it to the entity list (blacklist maintained by the commerce department). The US government is working closely with the various other federal agencies to decide whether the chipmaker should be blacklisted about its rumored links with the Chinese military.