US Commerce Chief wants strong action against Huawei and SMIC after chip breakthrough

It appears that the US is resuming its attention to Huawei and Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo said today that the US will take strong action against the companies involved in a recent chip breakthrough in China.

Gina Raimondo told Bloomberg that the developments in the Chinese chip industry are “deeply concerning”.

In August, Huawei released the Mate 60 Pro and Huawei made this phone public without a launch event. Chinese consumers rushed to stores to buy a new Mate flagship.

An early teardown shows that the Huawei Mate 60 Pro is equipped with Kirin 9000s chipset, which is quite a surprise for the entire smartphone industry.

The US blocked Huawei from printing new chipsets in 2020, subsequently, chip producers including Taiwan’s TSMC shut down business with the Chinese tech company.

Despite several revelations and leaks, the chipset processing technology is not confirmed nor it is promoting this chip with the phones.

Also, the chip supports 5G network speed, a feature that has been missing from Huawei phones since 2021.

Industry analysts and veterans are calling Huawei’s chipset return a “breakthrough” and the US also took strong notice of this development.

It’s being said that the latest statement from the US Commerce head came amid the growing pressure of the opposition. Specifically, Republicans want the Biden Administration to take action on China’s SMIC and Huawei and cut them off completely from the supply chain.

For now, Raimondo has not confirmed any formal action against Huawei or SMIC but the US Commerce Department Bureau of Industry and Security is reportedly probing the 7nm chipset process used by Huawei.

“The investigations take time. You know, we need them to stick. We need to gather information. So at this point, all I will say is that was concerning and we will take whatever action is the strongest possible to protect America” concluded Raimondo.