2023-08-01 08:24:11
The Biden administration has stepped up measures in recent months to restrict Chinese companies’ access to the most advanced semiconductors, in the name of “national security”.
China, which seeks to become self-sufficient in semiconductor design, believes that these measures are aimed at maintaining US supremacy in this field.
Highly strategic, microchips are essential to the production of a multitude of electronic devices, from coffee machines to electric cars and smartphones, and are also present in armaments.
According to a directive from the Ministry of Commerce, Chinese exporters of gallium and germanium must now obtain a license.
They will have to provide information on the final recipient and notify its use, specifies this July document which comes into force on Tuesday.
China accounts for 94% of the world’s production of gallium, present in particular in integrated circuits, LEDs and photovoltaic panels, according to a report by the European Union published this year.
As for germanium, essential for fiber optics and infrared, 83% of the production of this element also comes from China.
This is a “clear” message, “unambiguous” addressed to the United States, believes analyst James Kennedy, of the firm ThREE Consulting, however tempering the scope of a measure that is above all political.
It “aims to cause a minimum of damage” to the United States, because their needs in gallium and germanium are “low” and can if necessary be compensated elsewhere, indicates to AFP Mr. Kennedy.
On the other hand, if Washington “chooses to continue the escalation, the next Chinese response will have consequences”, warns the expert, who does not exclude restrictions on rare earths.
Contrary to what their name suggests, this set of 17 metals essential to advanced technologies are relatively abundant. But their electromagnetic properties – particularly sought after – make them “strategic metals”.
These measures by Beijing come at a time when, according to the Bloomberg agency, the Biden administration is considering new restrictions aimed at the Chinese technology sector.
China also announced Monday restrictions on the export of certain types of drones from September 1.
This measure appears as a response to Western criticism of assistance to Russia in its war against Ukraine.
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