The United States, in fact, declared fresh export restrictions so as to cripple access for China to cutting-edge semiconductor technologies, which it quickly spurned by condemning. Now, the competition is escalating further and further between the two economies that charge with a profile over the whole world in order to block China’s access to state-of-the-art chips that are important for advanced weapons systems and artificial intelligence.
These restrictions come just weeks before the President-elect is scheduled to return to Washington as a protest announces a strict country’s public policy on China during his second term. National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan defended the measure by saying, “America is ensuring that technology is not going to be used against it by adversaries in its national security interests.” Emphasis was also made on continued collaboration with allies in safeguarding as well as preventing misuse of such technologies.
China will continue with its vow to defend those interests, and a spokesperson for the Chinese Ministry of Commerce fired repeated salvos on the United States for improper use of export control schemes and hindrances to foreign and normal economic and trade exchanges. Moreover, Lin Jian, who is spokesperson for China’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs, commented that U.S. acts hinder global trade and the supply chain. Beijing also stated that it is going to take measures to protect the rights of its companies from what it referred to as economic coercion and non-market practices by the United States.
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Under the new recommendations of the U.S., 140 companies in China including semiconductor firms Piotech and SiCarrier are banned, and any sales to these companies are subject to special approvals. It also includes Naura Technology Group, which manufactures chip manufacturing equipment and also companies in Japan, South Korea, and Singapore. These restrictions imposed controls on dozens of types of chip-making equipment and software tools used in semiconductor development. Under Secretary of Commerce for Industry and Security, Alan Estevez said: The country is still constantly reassessing and renewing controls.
Such restrictions form part of the broader U.S. strategy for curbing advanced artificial intelligence development in China, which threatens to radically change military technology. These measures would prevent China from achieving advanced AI, as well as attaining semiconductor capabilities, both critical to military modernization, noted the U.S. Commerce Department. According to Thibault Denamiel, a fellow at the Center for Strategic and International Studies, such latest actions are right in line with U.S. policy; however, they do carry less weight given the promise of draconian measures by the incoming Trump administration.
Under trade export controls, Secretary Gina Raimondo stated that the Biden administration specifically addresses military advancements in China while drafting stall tactics for advancing artificial intelligence and semiconductor manufacturing. “A small yard, high fence” is the policy under which the U.S. pursues to impose efforts towards strategic and targeted restrictions. In that light, however, President Xi Jinping of China condemned it and further accentuated the strain between the two nations in the economic and technological realms.