Reutersreports that although still unconfirmed officially, the Biden administration is preparing a new set of sanctions that will halt the export of sub-14nm semiconductors with AI capabilities and chip-making tools.
The Commerce Department has already sent letters to some of the big companies in the industry that work with China and provide chips to companies based in China. Some of the companies include Nvidia, AMD and Intel, and the companies have publicly acknowledged these letters, but most officials have declined to comment.
This is very similar to the current restrictions that allow US companies to work with China only after license from the Department of Commerce.
These letters are a common practice that ensures prompt implementation, but only companies that receive the letter must comply. Meanwhile, the Department of Commerce is working with the Biden administration to produce rules that will apply to the entire industry and are expected to be formally announced next month.
Some believe that even US companies using such chips will be denied access to the Chinese market. Among such companies Dell, HP and SuperMicrocomputer is found.
If this takes action, China will be in trouble because, despite its technological advances and manufacturing capabilities, not a single Chinese company has the know-how or the tools to produce modern chips that can compete on a large scale. to this sector USA, South Korea and Taiwan dominates. So this ban could serve as a bottleneck for China.
Biden’s office will seek support from its non-US allies to make the ban more effective.