Lawmaker sees new US chip restrictions as loopholes for Huawei: Report

US government has recently imposed new chip restrictions on China but a lawmaker found these controls as “loopholes” for Huawei. As per him, the new efforts to cut down China’s advanced chipmaking ambitions won’t be very effective for some firms.

John Moolenaar – the Chairman of the China Select Committee wrote a letter to the Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo on Wednesday. He shared his concerns that some of the new US chip restrictions could benefit Huawei and its partners.

Moolenar stated that a few restrictions are giving freedom to Chinese firms to prevent sanctions. He criticized sanctions rules for SMIC and other chip suppliers.

John Moolenaar also mentioned that certain licensing needs on Huawei chip suppliers are questioning the culture at BIS as to why they “continue to facilitate shipments of US technology to China.” In the letter, the lawmaker wrote:

“While the rules effectively deny all shipments to SMIC’s facility in Beijing, they allow case-by-case sales of specific items to SMIC in Shanghai.”

The case also applies to three more Huawei-linked chipmakers: Qingdao Si’En, SwaySure, and Shenzhen Pensun Technology Co., or PST. The latter two firms will go through case-by-case reviews instead of broader US export controls. John said:

“There is no national security justification for these loopholes.”

According to the lawmaker, the Commerce Department should preserve all documents related to the new controls. It will help Trump’s team detect any other loopholes in the latest attempts to hit China’s ambitions of making high-end chipsets.

The House Republican further implied that the US authorities could take even tougher “security” measures against China when Trump chairs at the White House.

John praises certain rules like controls on HBM processors that are crucial components for AI. Though he asked why the authorities didn’t take action against ChangXin Memory Tech which tries to replicate the AI memory chip technology.

Another representative – Raja Krishnamoorthi seemed satisfied with the Biden administration’s approach. He believes the new controls are enough to hinder the development of advanced technologies and chip growth in China.

Here are some of the measures that the US imposed on China:

• Controls on HBM (high-bandwidth memory) processors
• New red flag guidance to address compliance and diversion concerns
• 140 Entity List additions and 14 modifications spanning PRC tool makers, semiconductor fabs, and investment companies involved in advancing the PRC government’s military modernization
• Several critical regulatory changes to enhance the effectiveness of previous controls

Lawmaker sees new US chip restrictions as loopholes for Huawei (Image Credits: Huawei)

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