What’s been deemed as the ‘chip war’ between China and the USA has escalated again, as the US announced new restrictions on trade with Chinese technology firms at the end of last month. Despite recent progress, including a trade talk between the nation’s leaders, the US government has announced more Chinese technology companies that can’t trade with the USA. In return, China has warned of ‘countermeasures’ and said that the US was taking the wrong path.
Why Chinese Technology Companies?
The Biden administration has said that global trade and commerce should not support national security risks, and companies are added to the blacklist if they are contrary to the national interests of the United States.
The US secretary of commerce, Gino Raimondo said “Today’s action will also restrict exports to PRC [People’s Republic of China] producers of electronics that support the People’s Liberation Army’s military modernisation efforts.”
Other firms included in the sanctions include Chinese quantum computing developers and even more semiconductor firms. China has imported at least $300 billion of semiconductors for the last three years in a row and these are critical to its technological ambitions.
The Entity List
The USA’s blacklist of companies is known as the Entity List and some of the new additions to it include a chip company that is linked to H3C.
There are now 27 foreign entities and individuals that are on the list, with others located in Pakistan, Singapore, and Japan.