Restriction on the export of metal chips from China: this is just the beginning

With new export restrictions China escalates dispute over tech products A few days before the US Treasury minister’s visit to the country, a senior adviser warned that the export restriction on metals used in semiconductors is ” only the beginning”.

China, the world’s largest producer of rare metals, imposed restrictions on exports of gallium and germanium, which are widely used in high-tech electronics, earlier in the week.

Germanium is used in high-speed computer chips, plastic, military applications such as night vision devices, and satellite imaging sensors. Gallium is used in radar, radio communication equipment, satellites, and LEDs.

Wei Jianguo, China’s trade policy adviser and former vice commerce minister, described the export ban as a “well-considered coup” to the Chinese Daily in an interview published in China Daily yesterday, ahead of the Treasury secretary’s visit. from the USA, Janet Yellen, adding that it was “just the beginning”.

“Responses will increase if the restrictions continue to target China’s own high-tech sector,” said Wei, who is now vice president of the state-sponsored think tank China Center for International Economic Exchange.

USA STARTED CHIP WAR

The US has recently revealed its intention to hinder China’s technological development in the industry, with export controls and technology restrictions on Chinese companies in the chip industry.

The Beijing administration, which has not taken any action against these initiatives for a long time, targeted an American company for the first time in this year’s mining month. China’s Internet and Cyber ​​Security Authority has banned US chipmaker Micron from supplying products to critical infrastructure projects.

Micron, one of the world’s leading memory chip makers, earned more than 10 percent of its revenue from the Chinese market.

The Wall Street Journal reported on June 28, citing sources familiar with the matter, that the US Department of Commerce may take action as soon as next month to stop shipments of chips made by Nvidia and other chipmakers to customers in China and other related countries. without prior license.

The move could further limit the development of AI capabilities in China after restrictions last year cut off access to the most advanced AI chips made by Nvidia and AMD, according to the report. (REUTERS-SPEAKER)