The US-based Semiconductor Industry Association has called on President Joe Biden’s administration to “refrain from further restrictions” on chip sales to China as chief executives from the biggest US semiconductor firms planned to visit Washington this week to press their views on China policy.
The trade group made its statement Monday as the Biden Administration considered updating rules that were imposed on China’s semiconductor industry in October and is considering a new executive directive restricting certain outbound investments.
Reuters reported that Intel Corp. and Qualcomm Inc. chief executives planned to meet government officials Monday in order to share their opinions on China policy. The news agency cited an anonymous source.
Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo, National Economic Council Director Lael Brainard and Biden’s national security adviser, Jake Sullivan, are among government officials who are to hold the meetings with Intel, Qualcomm and Nvidia Corp, Reuters reported.
The announcement also follows China’s move to restrict the exports of materials used to make chips, such as gallium . The industry group said that further rule-tightening by US officials risks “disrupting supply chains, causing significant market uncertainty and prompting continued escalatory retaliation by China”.
The industry group said it wants “the administration to refrain from further restrictions until it engages more extensively with industry and experts to assess the impact of current and potential restrictions to determine whether they are narrow and clearly defined, consistently applied and fully coordinated with allies”.
A US National Security Council spokesperson told Reuters that the rules were designed to prevent US technologies from being used in a way that would undermine national security.
“We’ve been careful to get this right. This includes extensive public comments on regulations and intensive coordination with industry and stakeholders, as well as allies, partners and the Hill.
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