US-China tech war: Beijing’s semiconductor push could be hindered by delays in US permit approvals for equipment imports
- Approvals process has become congested amid too many applications, resulting in likely equipment shipment delays to new chip plants in China
- Chinese companies are factoring longer lead times into their plans, but the issue is hampering a domestic ramp-up in capacity
While the US allows exports of mature 28-nanometre and 14-nm chip production line equipment to China, exports of such machinery are still subject to permits being approved by the US government.
Eric Tseng, chief executive of Taipei-based research firm Isaiah Research, said Taiwanese chip companies such as Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC) and United Microelectronics Corporation, as well as Shanghai-based Semiconductor Manufacturing International Corporation (SMIC) are suffering from “a protracted vetting process” to import 22-nm and 28-nm node machinery into mainland China to expand their chip production capacity.
“It could delay their capacity expansion plans,” said Tseng. “Even though the US has not explicitly banned equipment exports to Taiwanese fabs in mainland China,” he added.
TSMC and SMIC declined to comment. UMC did not respond to an emailed request for comment.
