WASHINGTON (Reuters) -The United States on Monday launched its third major crackdown on China’s semiconductor industry in three years, including restricting exports to 140 companies including chip equipment maker Naura Technology Group.
Below is a list of the biggest actions being taken according to the Commerce Department.
CHIP EQUIPMENT
New controls will be implemented on semiconductor manufacturing equipment required to produce integrated circuits with advanced junctions, including certain etching, deposition, lithography, ion implantation, annealing, metrology, and inspection and cleaning instruments.
This could affect companies such as Lam Research (NASDAQ:), KLA Corp and Applied Materials (NASDAQ:), as well as non-US companies such as Dutch equipment manufacturer ASM International (AS:).
SOFTWARE
New controls on software tools for developing or producing integrated circuits with advanced nodes, including certain software that increases the productivity of advanced machines or enables less advanced machines to produce advanced chips, which could impact companies such as Siemens (ETR :), the parent company of Mentor Graphics.
MEMORY
Another rule in the package limits the high-bandwidth memory used in AI chips corresponding to what’s known as “HBM 2” and higher, technology made by South Korea’s Samsung and SK Hynix and the US-based Micron Technology (NASDAQ:).
Industry sources expect that only Samsung Electronics (KS:) will be affected. Samsung gets about 20% of its HBM chip sales from China, a person with knowledge of the matter said.
HBM is critical for both AI training and large-scale inference, and is a key component of advanced integrated computing circuits.
ENTITY LIST
The 140 new entrants to the Commerce Department’s Entity List include semiconductor factories, also known as factories, semiconductor tool companies, and investment companies “acting at Beijing’s behest to advance China’s advanced chip goals, which pose a risk to the USA and the United States.” allied national security.”
Chinese private equity firm Sensible (LON:) Road Capital, technology company Wingtech Technology Co and JAC Capital were added.
Companies seeking licenses to ship to companies on the Entity List are typically denied.
FOREIGN DIRECT PRODUCT RULE
The new rule will expand U.S. powers to curb exports of chip equipment by American, Japanese and Dutch manufacturers from other parts of the world to certain chip factories in China.
Equipment made in Israel, Malaysia, Singapore, South Korea and Taiwan is covered by the rule, while Japan and the Netherlands are exempt.
The expanded direct foreign products rule will apply to 16 companies on the entity list seen as key to China’s most advanced chip manufacturing ambitions.
The rule will also reduce the amount of U.S. content that determines when certain foreign items fall under U.S. control. That will allow the US to regulate any item shipped from abroad to China if it contains American chips.
