Days after the US and other allies cut off Russian access to semiconductors, Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross threatened to deny Chinese companies access to crucial US technology needed to make chips if they broke the ban.
The Biden administration might cut off SMIC and other Chinese chip companies’ access to U.S.-made tools and software critical for the fabrication of the most advanced chips, according to US Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo, who spoke to the New York Times on Tuesday. While the ban on chip sales to Russia has always included the threat of US retaliation against foreign companies that break the restrictions, a senior administration official specifically referenced China and Chinese chipmakers on Tuesday.
“It’s in their self-interest for them not to supply this stuff to Russia,” Raimondo told the New York Times. “So it’s not something they’re doing out of the goodness of their hearts.” China’s ability to develop these chips would be severely harmed.”
According to the New York Times, Raimondo referenced SMIC and stated that the Biden administration may “basically shut down” any Chinese business that violates the restriction on-chip exports to Russia and Belarus. According to a Protocol analysis of Russian import data, Russia purchased the majority of its chips from China prior to its invasion of Ukraine, however, it also purchased a significant amount of memory from Samsung and analogue chips from the German manufacturer Infineon.
In many ways, the US’s tech restrictions, which are being executed in collaboration with friends in the EU and abroad, are similar to the attempt to harm Huawei. The US successfully cut Huawei off from global semiconductor suppliers, resulting in billions of dollars in income lost.
