According to Bloomberg, the outgoing Biden administration is preparing new rules to slow down or limit advancements in China's semiconductor industry. Still, the new restrictions will not be as severe as initially expected. While the new measures will reportedly hit select chipmakers, their main purpose is to curb the development of China-based producers of chipmaking equipment and limit the supply of fab tools that could be used to advance China's AI sector.
The new rules focus on limiting exports to specific Chinese entities rather than broad categories of chipmakers. In particular, the new measures will sanction two fabs owned by Semiconductor Manufacturing International Corp. (SMIC). Additionally, of about 12 known suppliers to Huawei, a company on the U.S. Entity List, only a few will be added to the Entity List and, therefore, banned from U.S. technology. Others, including Huawei, will be able to continue serving their customers.
