US Biden Adds More Chinese Companies to Trade Restrictions...Over 200 Firms Expected to Be Blocked from Transactions

Export Restrictions on Semiconductors Targeting Chinese Companies

The U.S. administration under Joe Biden is reportedly set to announce new semiconductor-related export restrictions targeting Chinese companies.

President Joe Biden of the United States. Yonhap News

According to foreign media reports citing an email sent by the U.S. Chamber of Commerce to its members on the 22nd (local time), up to 200 Chinese semiconductor companies are expected to be added to the "trade restriction list" as a result of the new regulations.

Being listed on the trade restriction list would block transactions with most U.S. companies. A source familiar with the matter said that the new regulations are likely to include restrictions on the sale of semiconductor manufacturing equipment to China.

The new regulations are expected to be announced before the 28th, and separately, another regulation is anticipated next month to limit shipments of high-bandwidth memory (HBM) to China as part of export restrictions on artificial intelligence (AI) semiconductors. The U.S. Chamber of Commerce did not respond to requests for comment on this matter, and the U.S. Department of Commerce also declined to comment.

The Biden administration banned the export of certain semiconductor products, such as graphics processing units (GPUs) used for AI implementation, to China in August 2022, citing concerns that the Chinese military might misuse them for military purposes. This ban targeted companies like Nvidia and AMD.

As a result, exports of Nvidia's A100 and its upgraded version, the H100, to China were halted. Additionally, since October of the same year, restrictions have been imposed on exporting advanced semiconductor manufacturing equipment, as well as the services and parts necessary to operate such equipment, to China.

In September, a new system was established to designate key emerging technologies such as quantum computing and advanced semiconductor manufacturing as subjects of export control, which was also interpreted as a measure targeting China.