Huawei's technological breakthrough caught US officials by surprise.
The U.S. is asking allies to impose more restrictions on the placement of chip-making equipment in China. As the Biden administration seeks to further thwart Beijing's ambitions to build advanced semiconductors, Bloomberg reports.
“We insist on not servicing these key components, so we are discussing this with our allies,” — US Undersecretary of Commerce for Industry and Security Alan Estevez told reporters in Washington today, March 27.
He added that the US does not seek to restrict equipment suppliers from servicing more secondary components that Chinese firms are capable of repairing on their own. US officials were caught off guard when Huawei Technologies Co. released in 2023 a new 5G smartphone based on an advanced 7-nanometer chip made in China.
As reported by Bloomberg News, Huawei and its chip manufacturing partner Semiconductor Manufacturing International Corp. have so far relied on foreign equipment from American suppliers, including Applied Materials Inc. and Dutch supplier ASML Holding NV to manufacture the chip. After reaching Huawei, the US is pressuring its allies to limit China's access to advanced technology.
Washington has banned Applied Materials and its American counterparts from servicing equipment used by blacklisted Chinese companies. The Netherlands and Japan, meanwhile, do not have similar bans on their companies.