Biden Curbs Semiconductor Industry Exports to China

I'm willing to bet he doesn't know what most of those words mean

From Reuters:

The Biden administration plans next month to broaden curbs on U.S shipments to China of semiconductors used for artificial intelligence and chipmaking tools, several people familiar with the matter said.

The Commerce Department intends to publish new regulations based on restrictions communicated in letters earlier this year to three U.S. companies -- KLA Corp (KLAC.O), Lam Research Corp (LRCX.O) and Applied Materials Inc (AMAT.O), the people said, speaking on the condition of anonymity. The plan for new rules has not been previously reported.

The letters, which the companies publicly acknowledged, forbade them from exporting chipmaking equipment to Chinese factories that produce advanced semiconductors with sub-14 nanometer processes unless the sellers obtain Commerce Department licenses.

The rules would also codify restrictions in Commerce Department letters sent to Nvidia Corp (NVDA.O) and Advanced Micro Devices (AMD.O) last month instructing them to halt shipments of several artificial intelligence computing chips to China unless they obtain licenses.

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So-called "is informed" letters allow the Commerce Department to bypass lengthy rule-writing processes to put controls in place quickly, but the letters only apply to the companies that receive them.

Turning the letters into rules would broaden their reach and could subject other U.S. companies producing similar technology to the restrictions.

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"The strategy is to choke off China and they have discovered that chips are a choke point. They can't make this stuff, they can't make the manufacturing equipment," said Jim Lewis a technology expert at the Center for Strategic and International Studies. "That will change."

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Reuters was first to report in July that the Biden administration was actively discussing banning exports of chipmaking tools to Chinese factories that make advanced semiconductors at the 14 nanometer node and smaller. read more

U.S. officials have reached out to allies to lobby them to enact similar policies so that foreign companies would not be able to sell technology to China that American firms would be barred from shipping, two of the sources said.

Firstly, this is a great example of how the bureaucrats are now in charge, rather than the people’s elected representatives in congress. Departments of the executive branch can just make rules on a whim, and yet this is given the force of law. This is a clear usurpation of the legislative branch, but since congress willingly delegated this power, which was not theirs to cede, and yet no one cares, it’s really the whole system which is rotten. This includes the efforts of the people in what is supposed to be their government.

I guess the sanctions against Russia worked so well in driving people into poverty that they want to try them against China too.

Unfortunately for them, the government also needs chips, they’re not just for ordinary people’s iPhones. And when you sanction a country, they tend to sanction you back.

And I don’t think others are going to join in, countries like India are getting pretty fed up with these wild-man antics on the international stage.

Most semiconductors are made in Taiwan, though the industry is intrinsically linked with the mainland both in manufacturing terms, and financial, as many of the companies are mainland-owned. China could easily slow production down, or even blockade Taiwan if they feel so bold.

The west already has already been suffering a chip shortage, just try to buy a PS5. These measures will just make that worse.

And as for the claim that China won’t be able to make chips without U.S. manufacturing equipment, the Biden entity is now telling you that Chinese people can’t do math or engineering.