U.S. reportedly eyeing China’s SMIC following Huawei Mate 60 Pro success

Huawei and SMIC plan to initiate the 5nm chipset manufacturing, but it looks like the U.S. has already started eyeing this action. As per the new information, the Biden administration is restricting the Chinese chipset producer from more U.S. imports.

Eventually, the U.S. is now eyeing SMIC works and imposing more new import restrictions, after it produced a chipset for the Huawei Mate 60 Pro. Perhaps, the authorities are putting obstacles in making China-made advanced processors.

Last year, the U.S. Commerce Department sent several letters to native suppliers to prohibit SMIC’s most advanced plant imports in the region. Meanwhile, many U.S. firms already pulled their hands from selling to SMIC South plants.

Entegris, one of the chipmaking materials and parts suppliers says that it used to work with SMIC via a valid export license. However, it had to halt working after receiving letters from authorities to stop sending products to SMIC South.

Adding more, Entegris mentions that it verifies and adheres to the rapidly evolving regulatory requirements for global trade that impact the chip industry.

Rising Chips Concerns

Notably, the U.S. is taking significant actions against SMIC as it believes that China aims to interrupt the rising U.S. technology and degrade its capability of making advanced chips. On the other hand, the Chinese embassy has a different perspective:

“This is out-and-out economic bullying and will inevitably backfire. We urge the U.S. side to stop overstretching the concept of national security and abusing the state power to suppress Chinese companies.” – said a Chinese embassy spokesperson in Washington.

After Huawei surprised the world with Mate 60 Pro and its Kirin 5G chip, the U.S. is keeping a strict eye on the Chinese grinds. Even though strict bans and challenges, Huawei made its way to bring out a capable semiconductor on board.

Thereafter, the U.S. investigated the device to learn about the techs and mechanisms used for making the new chip. Consequently, this move by Huawei raised several concerns for the U.S. authorities related to advanced chip manufacturing.

U.S. Ban:

Since 2019, Huawei and some other Chinese companies have been struggling with U.S. trade rules and unnecessary sanctions in the name of security. Trump brought some relief to these firms by allowing the export of certain items to Huawei and SMIC. Yet, things changed with the Biden administration.

(Source)