The Trump administration is considering blacklisting several Chinese chip manufacturing firms, including chipmaker ChangXin Memory(CXMT).
However, some officials still want to wait for both countries to sign their long-term trade agreements before releasing the trade blacklist.
China’s SMIC and YMTC are reportedly on the US export trade blacklist
The Commerce Department has allegedly started to compile a list, targeting subsidiaries of Semiconductor Manufacturing International Corporation (SMIC), China’s largest chipmaker, Yangtze Memory Technologies Co (YMTC), its largest memory chipmaker, and ChangXin Memory (CXMT).
US officials have long considered placing restrictions on CXMT, considering its fast-growing global DRAM memory chip market. The chipmaker is also currently working on expanding to the high-bandwidth memory (HBM) market.
However, this potential trade blacklist could ruin efforts to arrive at a long-term trade deal with China. Just this weekend, in Geneva, Switzerland, the US and China agreed to pause their reciprocal tariffs for the next 90 days while they work on a better deal.
Some government officials believe that introducing the blacklist could hurt or pause future negotiations.
On the other hand, other Trump administration officials have resorted to complaining against Biden’s regime for stalling assertive actions against China to foster what they termed as “zombie diplomacy”
If the US pursues releasing the export blacklist, it could hinder China from acquiring American chips and chipmaking technology that enable it to modernize its military more. US firms would need government authorization before selling to any Chinese entities on the list.
Clearly, US security officials are worried that China has had easy access to American technology, which they believe has boosted its hypersonic and nuclear weapon development.
The Chinese embassy in the US has not spoken directly on the matter but recently commented, “China firmly opposes the US’s overstretching the concept of national security, abusing export controls, and maliciously blocking and suppressing China.”
Trump warned that companies could face criminal penalties for using Huawei Ascend chips
President Donald Trump also warned global companies against using Huawei AI chips, claiming they could earn themselves criminal penalties. The Commerce Department released guidance confirming that Huawei’s Ascend processors fall under export controls, as they almost certainly incorporate or were produced using US technology.
According to the department, the Ascend chips—the 910B, 910C, and 910D—are especially likely to have been designed using US-origin software or produced using semiconductor equipment derived from US technology or both.
China has responded to the matter through a ministry spokeswoman, He Yongqian, who described the Huawei announcement as a typical example of unilateral bullying. She added that US restrictions significantly compromise the lawful rights and interests of Chinese enterprises, jeopardize the stability of the global semiconductor supply chain, and disrupt market norms along with the broader international economic and trade order.
Additionally, she claimed the restrictions on the tech company would harm their trade relations.
China’s Ministry of Commerce also asked the US to lift its Section 232 tariffs on imported automobiles, steel, and aluminum and to halt its investigation into imported pharmaceuticals, arguing that they could resolve their differences through dialogue. The ministry insists the tariffs and probes only hurt other countries and are unilateral and protectionist.
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