US Embargo On China Intensifies, Ban Extends To AI Chip Sector

The U.S. government added Chinese memory chipmaker Yangtze Memory Technologies Co, Ltd and 21 "major" Chinese players in the artificial intelligence chip sector to a trade blacklist.
The U.S. added YMTC to the list over fears of diverting American technology to previously blacklisted Chinese tech giants Huawei Technologies Co Ltd and Hikvision, Reuters reports.
YMTC had been in the U.S. regulatory crosshairs for a long time.
Also Read: China Taps Alibaba, Tencent To Beat US Sanctions
The embargo will block YMTC's suppliers from shipping U.S. goods to it without a difficult-to-obtain license.
The 21 Chinese AI chip entities added to the trade blacklist, which includes Cambricon Technologies Corp and CETC, were subject to harsher penalties.
Another notable name was Shenzhen city government backed a startup chip fab PXW Semiconductor Manufactory Co, led by an ex-Huawei executive.
The U.S. justified the ban by citing the Chinese government's removal of barriers between its military and civilian sectors.
China alleged blatant economic arm-twisting in technology, undermining normal business activities between Chinese and American companies and threatening the stability of global supply chains.
The ban built on U.S.'s export controls on Beijing in October to slow Beijing's technological and military advances, including measures to curb China's access to U.S. chipmaking tools and cut it off from specific chips made with American equipment.
Congress also prepared to adopt a ruling to bar the U.S. government from buying products that contain semiconductors made by YMTC, Chinese memory chipmaker CXMT or China's top chip manufacturer, SMIC.
The Commerce Department also targeted nine Chinese entities allegedly seeking to support China's military modernization.
Photo: Tatiana Popova and rawf8 by Shuttterstock

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