Main topic: President Joe Biden's executive order on limiting American investment in certain Chinese tech firms.
Key points:
1. The executive order aims to address national security concerns related to companies dealing with sensitive technologies like semiconductors, quantum computing, and artificial intelligence.
2. The order is narrowly targeted to bar funding of entities engaged in specific activities that pose acute national security risks.
3. This is not the first time the US has sought to limit the influence of Chinese tech firms, with previous restrictions on Huawei, supercomputing technology sales, and pressure on ByteDance to sell TikTok.
Chinese tech giant Huawei is reportedly building secret semiconductor-fabrication facilities in China to evade U.S. sanctions, according to the Semiconductor Industry Association, which claims that Huawei has acquired existing plants and is constructing three others using state funding.
Nvidia warns that stronger US restrictions on chip sales to China will harm American companies in the long term, while also acknowledging that stricter rules wouldn't have an immediate material impact on their finances.
The emergence of the chip war in the semiconductor industry between the United States and China is causing disruptions to the global supply chain and creating uncertainties and price fluctuations in various industries reliant on chips. This development highlights the prioritization of competition over cooperation, with the raw materials for chip production becoming a tool to pursue geopolitical interests.
U.S. Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo has stated that American companies are viewing China as "uninvestible" due to fines, raids, and other risky actions taken by the Chinese government, presenting a bleak picture of American firms' perception of doing business in China.
China is planning a $41 billion fund to boost its semiconductor industry in response to US restrictions on exporting chips to the country.
The launch of Huawei's new smartphone raises questions about global technology and control of the future, as the Chinese company unveils a smartphone powered by an advanced chip, potentially challenging US efforts to block China from acquiring cutting-edge computer chips.
China has defied US-led export restrictions by producing a 5G smartphone, Huawei's Mate 60 Pro, using an advanced silicon chip made by Semiconductor Manufacturing International Corp (SMIC), indicating progress in China's efforts to build a domestic chip ecosystem.
China has reportedly ordered officials at central government agencies to not use Apple's iPhones and other foreign-branded devices for work or bring them into the office, potentially impacting foreign companies operating in China as tensions between the US and China escalate.
China's Huawei Technologies' development of an advanced chip for its latest smartphone demonstrates the country's resilience in the face of U.S. sanctions, but the costly efforts may lead to tighter restrictions from Washington, according to analysts.
The US government is seeking more information about the Huawei Mate 60 Pro smartphone, particularly its advanced chip, to determine if American restrictions on semiconductor exports were bypassed.
The chair of the House of Representatives' committee on China has called for the U.S. Commerce Department to halt all technology exports to Huawei and China's top semiconductor firm, SMIC, after the discovery of new chips in Huawei phones that may violate trade restrictions.
The Biden administration's export ban is causing China's largest contract chipmaker, SMIC, to face restrictions on export sales, leading to concerns about the acceleration of the US-China tech war.
China's economic challenges and failed rebound post-Covid are causing U.S. investors and businesses to view Chinese exposure as a liability, leading to underperformance in companies with high China exposure and potential bans on foreign devices, signaling a potential decline in China's economic growth.
A US factory is revealed to be under Chinese state control.
Ten Republican lawmakers are urging the Commerce Department to impose stricter sanctions on Huawei and Semiconductor Manufacturing International Corp. (SMIC), after the companies showcased a domestically manufactured advanced smartphone chip that allegedly violated U.S. export controls, prompting concerns about the effectiveness of current export controls in preventing U.S. technology from reaching China.
SK hynix Vice Chairman Park Jung-ho denies doing business with Huawei and calls for further investigation into the memory used in Huawei's controversial Mate 60 Pro smartphone, suggesting that Chinese sanctions may not be as effective as hoped.
The U.S. government is investigating how Huawei and SMIC managed to create 7nm Kirin 9000S 5G chipsets in violation of American sanctions, while Foxconn workers assembling the Huawei Mate 60 Pro in China are paid 19.2% more than those assembling the iPhone.
Huawei's chip design unit, HiSilicon, is shipping new Chinese-made chips for surveillance cameras, indicating that the company is finding ways around the US export controls and reclaiming market share in the sector.
Despite conflicting claims, the U.S. Commerce Secretary has stated that there is no evidence that Huawei can manufacture smartphones with advanced semiconductors at scale.
Huawei may launch a mid-range 5G phone as early as October, indicating that the company has overcome U.S. sanctions.
