Two Republican lawmakers in the US are calling for the expansion of restrictions against export of chip making tools to China. This arrives after the US government recently added seven new Chinese supercomputing based entities in its trade blacklist.
According to a BloombergQuint report, Michael McCaul of Texas, the top Republican on the House Foreign Affairs Committee, and Arkansas Senator Tom Cotton have asked the US Department of Commerce to make it mandatory for American based tech firms that make electronics design automation tools, which are used to help design computer chips, to obtain a license from the government before allowing export of any products to China.
As per McCaul and Cotton wrote in a letter to Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo, “There is clear evidence that companies linked to the Chinese Communist Party military are using this software technology to develop advanced weaponry.” Previously, the US added seven Chinese supercomputing based firms into its trade blacklist, which prevents them from receiving exports from American companies. The reason for the blacklisting is due to alleged national security risks.
The two lawmakers also asked the State and Commerce departments to find a way to “mitigate the risk of Taiwanese companies providing services and technologies to entities of concern,” further adding that the Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company (TSMC) shouldn’t be making advanced chips for China’s military. We also reported on TSMC officially suspending new orders from one of the companies blacklisted by the American government.
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