China’s semiconductors: Latest US export controls may hinder ambitions to catch up
- The move extends controls over dual-use tech under the Wassenaar Arrangement, a multilateral export control regime involving 42 countries, including the US and UK
- Restricted items include lithography software for the fabrication of EUV masks, a technology needed to achieve the advanced 7-nanometre node in chip making
Tighter US export controls on emerging technologies will prove a new barrier to China’s goal of catching up to the west in advanced semiconductor manufacturing and a Biden Administration would be unlikely to roll them back, say analysts.
They include two key technologies in chip making: computational lithography software used in EUV applications and 5-nanometre wafer production. Other areas cover computer numerically controlled tools, digital forensics tools, software that captures and analyses communications and metadata, and suborbital aircraft.
The move extends controls over dual-use products and technologies under the Wassenaar Arrangement, a multilateral export control regime involving 42 countries, including the US, UK, Canada and Russia.
As counting continues in the US presidential election, Democratic candidate Joe Biden is ahead in some key battleground states and narrowing the gap with Republican president Donald Trump in Pennsylvania, which is a make-or-break state for both candidates.
If elected, a Biden Administration would be unlikely to immediately or unilaterally lift Trump’s export controls because Democrats broadly supported the augmentation of the measures two years ago, said Jonathan Wood, lead analyst for the US and Canada at risk consultancy Control Risks.