to its trade blacklist due to their alleged ties to the country’s military, human rights abuses and theft of U.S. trade secrets.
China’s largest chipmaker SMIC and related entities were included on the list based on evidence of activities between the companies and the Chinese military industrial complex, the Commerce Department said. “We will not allow advanced U.S. technology to help build the military of an increasingly belligerent adversary,” said Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross. “Between SMIC’s relationships of concern with the military industrial complex, China’s aggressive application of military civil fusion mandates and state-directed subsidies, SMIC perfectly illustrates the risks of China’s leverage of U.S. technology to support its military modernization.
Placing SMIC on the department’s entity list will limit the company’s ability to acquire U.S. technology by stipulating that U.S. exporters have to apply for a license to sell to the Chinese company. Equipment used to manufacture semiconductor chips at 10 nanometers and below will be barred from export to prevent the technology from supporting China’s military build-up.