Chip industry group urges Biden admin to review export controls on China to create ‘level playing field’

A semiconductor industry group on Monday called for a review of the Trump administration’s export control policy, and urged the incoming US Commerce Secretary to work with allies when curbing sales of US technology to China for national security.

SEMI, which represents semiconductor equipment makers and device manufacturers worldwide, said the prior administration’s unilateral rules had made any potential benefit likely to be less effective over time, had unnecessarily hurt American industry, and had left US exporters vulnerable to retaliation.

In a letter to Gina Raimondo, secretary-designate of the US Commerce Department, SEMI President Ajit Manocha said the United States should coordinate with allies whose companies compete in the global market.

“Multi-lateral controls – where items of concern are controlled by all major producing nations – create a level playing field, maximise effectiveness, and minimise harm to US national security and economic competitiveness,” Manocha said in the letter, a copy of which was obtained by Reuters.

The Commerce Department did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Increasingly, Manocha noted, foreign competitors are marketing goods as “free from US export controls.”