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Amid growing concerns over Huawei’s development of advanced semiconductors, the United States is urging allies in Europe and Asia to tighten export controls on chip-related technology and tools to China.
The United States has pushed Japan, South Korea and the Netherlands to be more aggressive in enforcing existing export controls, including suspending its own engineers who maintain chip-making tools at China’s advanced semiconductor factories, according to five people familiar with the conversations. We request that you use this information to your advantage.
The Biden administration will introduce comprehensive export controls in 2022, including banning “American persons” (U.S. citizens and businesses) from providing direct or indirect support to certain advanced chip factories in China. did. But there are far fewer regulations preventing Chinese groups from hiring engineers from allied countries.
“To make regulations more effective against China and level the playing field for U.S. industry, allies are offering services to help their companies produce advanced node integrated circuits in China,” said export control expert Kevin Wolf. It is necessary to prohibit the provision of At the law firm Akin Gump.
The United States is increasingly concerned about the speed with which Chinese groups are developing advanced chips, despite tightening U.S. regulations.
During Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo’s visit to China last year, Huawei unveiled the Mate 60 Pro, a mobile phone with an advanced chip that surprised U.S. government export control experts.
The U.S. government is also asking its allies to make it harder for China to circumvent U.S. restrictions. In particular, it seeks to make it more difficult for third-country companies to supply China with products containing technology produced in Japan, South Korea, and the Netherlands.
The US is using an expansive tool called the Foreign Direct Product Rule to target Huawei. The Commerce Department would be able to block non-U.S. companies from supplying the company with items containing U.S. technology, even if they were manufactured outside the United States. But allies have not taken steps to have a similar impact.
A person familiar with the matter said the U.S. is not asking allies to create new mechanisms along the lines of the FDPR, but rather to leverage existing export control systems to address the issue. He said that there was only one.
The White House and Commerce Department declined to comment. Japan’s Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry and the Dutch government also declined to comment.
South Korea’s Ministry of Industry, Trade and Energy said it was “not aware” of the US’ request to tighten export controls.
How allies will react remains unclear. In response to the 2022 U.S. regulations, export controls for chip-related technology have been tightened. Some Asian companies are frustrated that the United States continues to allow some of its own companies, such as Qualcomm, to supply chips to Huawei while at the same time pressuring its allies.
Officials from some allied countries have argued that it is necessary to have technicians in Chinese organizations to monitor activities on the ground, according to one of the people involved in the talks.
Japan imposed restrictions on 23 types of chip-making tools last year. At the time, Japanese officials said the restrictions went further than those imposed by the United States, as exporters would need permits in all regions, and would give the Ministry of International Trade and Industry extensive oversight. Stated. But some officials said there was a lack of transparency about how tough Japan actually is in enforcing export controls.
Many Japanese companies have largely cut ties with Huawei, but the Chinese group remains a member of Keidanren, the country’s most influential business lobby group.
EU Trade Commissioner Valdis Dombrovskis told the Financial Times that the EU is reluctant to restrict European nationals from working in China. “This topic about talent is a pretty fundamental question about individual freedom. It’s an area that we need to approach very carefully,” Dombrovskis said.
Separately on Thursday, Marco Rubio, the Republican vice chair of the Senate Intelligence Committee, and Elise Stefanik, the No. 4 Republican in the House, announced that they had developed a laptop with an Intel chip. asked Raimondo to revoke Huawei-related export licenses. .
“These trends make it clear that Huawei, a blacklisted company that was in crisis just a few years ago, is making a comeback,” they wrote in the letter. “This is happening because the Biden administration, led by your department, has failed to protect American ingenuity.”
Intel said it is “in strict compliance with all laws and regulations of the countries in which we operate.”
Additional coverage by Song Jeong-ah in Seoul and Ryan McMorrow in Beijing
