The United States is easing trade restrictions on China’s best chipmaker

The department did not comment directly on SMIC, but said Reuters It “constantly monitors and assesses” potential threats to US security and foreign policy.

Meanwhile, SMIC seemed to be caught by surprise. A spokesman said the chip company had no official restrictions and denied any military involvement. The company provides chips and services “for public and business end users and end use only”.

The semiconductor manufacturer is the second top company to be included in the company list After Hawaii. The effect of the ban will not be clear until the Department of Commerce decides who (someone) will get the license, which will be a significant blow to Chinese technology as a whole. SMIC will have to turn to non-US technology whenever it wants to improve its production or maintain hardware, and there is no guarantee that it will find what it needs. It can be seen to lag behind competitors who have access to a wide range of equipment.

This could have a knock-on effect on companies that rely on SMIC. Hawaii needs SMIC to do that Some of the green chips It could cause further problems if it fails to meet SMIC requirements under the new regulations – especially after losing access to its phones, such as partners such as DSMC. Not surprisingly, the Chinese government retaliated with comparable restrictions on US companies.