China warns of ‘necessary actions’ if US adds new chip controls

Beijing has warned it would take “necessary actions” to protect Chinese companies if the US went ahead with additional chip control measures, following reports that the Biden administration could introduce new restrictions in the coming days. 

The US Chamber of Commerce recently informed members via email that the US government was considering adding at least 200 Chinese semiconductor firms to a trade blacklist, effectively preventing most American suppliers from shipping to them, according to a Reuters report.

China’s commerce ministry said Beijing “strongly opposes” what the spokesperson described as the US expanding the concept of national security, and the “abuse” of control measures targeting Chinese companies, the Reuters report says.

“These actions severely disrupt the international economic and trade order, destabilise global industrial security, and harm the cooperative efforts between China and the US, as well as the global semiconductor industry,” China’s commerce ministry spokesperson He Yadong said. “If the US insists on escalating control measures, China will take necessary actions to resolutely protect the legitimate rights of Chinese enterprises.” 

According to a Bloomberg report, the newly proposed sanctions continue to target Chinese chip fabrication plants while putting greater emphasis on targeting domestic firms supplying manufacturing equipment to chipmakers. The expected curbs may reportedly add another 100 Chinese chip equipment makers to the entity list.

The proposal also targets two semiconductor chip factories owned by Huawei’s partner SMIC. 

The Biden administration has been rolling out export controls to cut off China’s access to advanced AI chips and chip-making tools. However, US allies such as Japan and the Netherlands are reportedly unhappy with some of these proposals.