Blitz Bureau
Tesla CEO Elon Musk applauded the Indian electoral system after vote- counting for the two state Assembly elections and by-elections in the country was concluded in a single day. The Unitedage against China, including curbs on high-end chips for artificial intelligence (AI), according to media reports.
This is the country’s third big crackdown in three years on China’s semiconductor industry, curbing exports to 140 companies. Of the 140 entities added to the export control list, two are Koreabased companies — ACM Research Korea Co. and Empyrean Korea. China has vowed to take “resolute measures” in response to the fresh export curbs. “We have repeatedly made clear our position on this issue. China firmly opposes the US’ overstretching the concept of national security, abusing export controls, and maliciously blocking and suppressing China,” Lin Jian, the ministry’s spokesperson, told a press briefing.
Manufacturing equipment
New controls will be placed on semiconductor manufacturing equipment needed to produce advanced-node integrated circuits, including certain etch, deposition, lithography, ion implantation, annealing, metrology and inspection, and cleaning tools, according to Reuters. The Commerce Department’s Bureau of Industry and Security (BIS) unveiled the package on the Federal Register, including restrictions on exports of high bandwidth memory (HBM) chips.
The package comes as President Joe Biden is set to leave office on January 20 with President-elect Donald Trump expected to adopt a tough policy stance on China. It is in line with Washington’s efforts to limit China’s access to key technologies on national security grounds, reports Yonhap news agency.
“This action is the culmination of the Biden-Harris Administration’s targeted approach, in concert with our allies and partners, to impair the People’s Republic of China’s (PRC) ability to indigenise the production of advanced technologies that pose a risk to our national security,” Secretary of Commerce Gina Raimondo said. The curbs could affect Samsung as it ships some of its HBM products to China, while little immediate impact is expected for SK Hynix given that the company exports all of its HBM products to the United States, according to industry observers.
The department established new Foreign Direct Product controls for certain SME items that originate in foreign countries, but are produced with US technology, software or tools — a move that could affect Korean-made chipmaking equipment exports.
