U.S. chip association SEMI requests U.S. government to review the export ban on Huawei

In May 2019, the US government added Huawei to the entity-list and restricts the American companies to do business with Huawei. The US has applied this sanction to hurt the Chinese tech giant.

Now, the U.S semiconductor industry association (SEMI) appeal to the US Department of Commerce (DoC) to re-examine the export sanctions implemented in 2020 on trading with China. SEMI said that the policies were enforced without public input and would harm domestic companies’ long-term global competitiveness.

SEMI’s members are Broadcom, Intel, Micron Technology, NXP Semiconductors, and Samsung Electronics, and more.

Ajit Manocha, CEO of SEMI in a letter request the Department of Commerce to the agency to prioritize a review of rules blocking Huawei’s access to US chip technology, which he argued: “resulted in unintended differences in the scope of controls over certain foreign-made semiconductor production and test equipment, and other semiconductor devices”.

He also plea the department to quickly process a backlog of requests for trade licenses, stating the procedure acted as a “de facto denial” and created uncertainty resulting in companies excluding US technology.

Manocha called for a multinational approach to trade policy to ensure a level playing field and blasted former President Donald Trump’s administration for using a highly unusual process to implement broad, ambiguous unilateral controls on semiconductor-related items.

He also alerts that the restriction could stifle innovation in the US by reducing R&D budgets and forcing companies to shift production and research activity overseas.

The SEMI chief called on the US government to “seek industry input” on the regulations as part of any review.

(Via – Mobileworldlive)