Exclusive-Latest US strike on China's chips hits semiconductor toolmakers

Reuters: The U.S. will launch on Monday its third crackdown in three years on China's semiconductor industry, curbing exports to 140 companies including chip equipment maker Naura Technology Group, among other moves, said two people familiar with the matter.

The effort to hobble Beijing's chipmaking ambitions will also hit Chinese chip toolmakers Piotech and SiCarrier Technology with new export restrictions as part of the package, which also takes aim at shipments of advanced memory chips and more chipmaking tools to China.

The move is one of the Biden administration's last large-scale efforts to stymie China's ability to access and produce chips that can help advance artificial intelligence for military applications, or otherwise threaten U.S. national security.

It comes just weeks before the swearing-in of Republican former president Donald Trump, who is expected to retain many of Biden's tough-on-China measures.

The package includes curbs on China-bound shipments of high bandwidth memory (HBM) chips, critical for high-end applications like AI training; new curbs on 24 additional chipmaking tools and three software tools; and new export curbs on chipmaking equipment made in countries such as Singapore and Malaysia.

The tool controls will likely hurt Lam Research, KLA and Applied Materials, as well as non-U.S. companies like Dutch equipment maker ASM International.

Among Chinese companies facing new restrictions are nearly two dozen semiconductor companies, two investment companies and over 100 chipmaking tool makers, the sources said. U.S. lawmakers say some of the companies, including Swaysure Technology Co, Qingdao SiEn, and Shenzhen Pensun Technology Co, work with China's Huawei Technologies, the telecommunications equipment leader once hobbled by U.S. sanctions and now at the center of China's advanced chip production and development.

They will be added to the entity list, which bars U.S. suppliers from shipping to them without first receiving a special license.

Asked about the U.S. curbs, Chinese foreign ministry spokesman Lin Jian said such behaviour undermined the international economic trade order and disrupted global supply chains.

China will take measures to safeguard the rights and interests of its firms, he added at a regular press briefing on Monday.

The Chinese commerce ministry did not immediately respond to a request for comment. China has stepped up its drive to become self-sufficient in the semiconductor sector in recent years, as the U.S. and other countries have restricted exports of the advanced chips and the tools to make them. However, it remains years behind chip industry leaders like Nvidia in AI chips and chip equipment maker ASML in the Netherlands.