Biden Administration Considers Additional Restrictions on Chip Sales to China

According to knowledgeable sources, the Biden administration is focusing on additional restrictions aimed at increasing pressure on China's technology ambitions through the sale of semiconductor equipment and artificial intelligence memory chips. However, these new measures will fall short of some of the stricter actions previously considered.

Individuals familiar with the matter indicated to Bloomberg News that the restrictions could be announced as soon as next week, but emphasized that the timing and specifics of the rules have changed multiple times and nothing is final until published.

These measures follow months of negotiations by U.S. officials, discussions with allies in Japan and the Netherlands, and intense lobbying by American chip equipment manufacturers who have warned that more stringent actions could cause devastating damage to their businesses.

The sources noted that the final proposal contains significant differences from earlier drafts, including which Chinese companies will be added to the trade restrictions list. Officials indicated that the U.S. had considered imposing sanctions on six suppliers to the Chinese telecommunications giant Huawei Technologies Co., and they are aware of at least half a dozen more suppliers. However, they now plan to only add a limited number of these Huawei suppliers to the entity list, including ChangXin Memory Technologies Inc., which is attempting to develop AI memory chip technology.