U.S. imposes new export restrictions on chip design software to China
The United States has instructed a wide range of companies to halt shipments of various products to China without a license, and has revoked previously issued licenses for certain vendors, according to a report from Reuters.
In recent days, multiple companies reportedly received notification letters from the U.S. Department of Commerce outlining the new export limitations. Two sources confirmed that firms involved in providing electronic design automation (EDA) software for semiconductors were informed last Friday that shipments to Chinese customers would now require a license.
Targets Strategic Bottlenecks
One of the three sources Reuters spoke with indicated that these newly imposed restrictions are likely to heighten tensions with Beijing and seem designed to target strategic bottlenecks, aiming to block China’s access to vital technologies across several key industries.
Cadence and Siemens EDA were named as two of the software vendors that received these letters, according to one source
In a call with analysts, Synopsys' CEO Sassine Ghazi said that the company had not received a letter, nor heard from the Commerce Department's Bureau of Industry and Security.
"We are aware of the reporting and speculations, but Synopsys has not received a notice from BIS ... We have not received a letter," Ghazi said.
Disruptive effect on Chinese Semiconductors
Restricting access to the Chinese market could significantly impact the revenue of these software firms and disrupt Chinese semiconductor design efforts that depend heavily on advanced U.S. technology.
A former official from the Commerce Department described the Chinese market as “the true choke point,” and revealed that discussions around limiting EDA software exports to China date back to the Trump administration, though such actions were previously dismissed as too extreme.
The White House has yet to issue a comment in response to inquiries.
