The U.S. Department of Commerce recently announced that China’s largest chipmaker, SMIC, has been blacklisted, becoming the latest U.S. sanction against China’s semiconductor industry. However, some U.S. officials believe that the relevant restrictive measures cannot effectively combat SMIC.
The U.S. Department of Commerce announced on December 18 that SMIC, China’s largest chipmaker, has been placed on the Entity List, which prohibits SMIC from obtaining technology and equipment from U.S. manufacturers for the production of semiconductor chips at 10 nanometers and below, in order to prevent such technology from being used by the Chinese military. to prevent such technology from being used by the Chinese military. Although SMIC has denied its association with the Chinese military, some U.S. officials believe this is a violation.
However, some U.S. officials argue that the move does not effectively limit SMIC’s semiconductor development. In a letter sent Tuesday by U.S. Sen. Marco Rubio and Rep. Michal McCaul to Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross, the two warned that the move would be “completely ineffective” in addressing China’s growing national security threat to the United States, according to Bloomberg. They warned that the move would be “completely ineffective” in lifting China’s growing national security threat to the U.S.; they expressed deep concern that SMIC’s inclusion on the list of entities was “for show” and that Beijing’s motivation to invest in next-generation semiconductors had not been weakened.
The report points out that the U.S. restriction ignores the idea that SMIC can produce most of its 10nm or better wafers using more outdated equipment, thus supporting the idea that SMIC has been producing wafers for some time. Rubio and McCall argue that SMIC could reuse nearly 95 percent of its previous-generation apparatus.
In other news, the U.S. Department of Commerce has indicated that it may reconsider its restrictions on SMIC and is prepared to take action to revise the list of entities, according to the latest disclosure in the Wall Street Journal.
In the face of the incoming U.S. administration, The Wire China, a Boston-based digital newsweekly focusing on China’s economic rise and its impact on global business, finance, trade, labor and the environment, revealed that William A. Reinsch, a former U.S. Commerce Department official and now director of the Schoeller Center for International Business Studies at the Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS), a U.S. think tank, said that while China’s economic rise has been a major factor in the U.S. economy, it has also been a major factor in the U.S. economy. Reinsch said that while Biden’s approach to using the entity list will not be the same as Trump‘s, he does not think Biden will immediately remove the companies from the list, and he will face bipartisan pressure from Congress.
In addition, the world’s largest chip foundry manufacturer “TSMC” (TSMC) about the announcement to set up factories in the United States, is also widely considered to be another initiative of the United States this year in the protection of national security. According to Taiwan Central News Agency, TSMC’s investment case for a plant in Arizona was reviewed and approved by the Investment Review Committee of the Ministry of Economic Affairs on Dec. 22. The Investment Review Committee said that TSMC’s investment in the U.S. plant is expected to begin production of 5nm manufactured products in the first half of 2024 to meet the strong demand in the U.S. market.
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