Dec. 3 (UPI) — The United States has unveiled new rules prohibiting the export of semiconductor technology to China as the Biden administration continues to implement measures aimed at restricting Beijing’s ability to produce advanced weaponry and artificial intelligence systems.
The administration of President Joe Biden has repeatedly tightened its export restrictions on China, viewing semiconductor technology in Beijing’s hands as a national security risk.
The measures, announced Monday by the Department of Commerce’s Bureau of Industry and Security, include the prohibition to China of two dozen types of semiconductor manufacturing equipment and three related software tools. New controls also affect high-band memory exports.
Another 140 Chinese companies have been added to the department’s Entity List and are now subject to license requirements for exports. According to the department, these newly added Chinese tool manufacturers, semiconductor fabs and investment companies are involved in advancing Beijing’s military modernization.
In a statement, Secretary of Commerce Gina Raimond described the new measures as being a targeted approach “to impair the PRC’s ability to indigenize the production of advanced technologies that pose a risk to our national security.”
The People’s Republic of China is China’s official name.
“Further strengthening our export controls underscores the central role of the Department of Commerce in executing the United States’ broader national security strategy,” she said.
The measures are effective immediately, though they have a delayed compliance date of Dec. 31 for certain controls.
The Biden administration has placed both domestic production and national security at the forefront of its efforts to control semiconductor technology, supplies of which were greatly hampered due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
Amid the shortage, Biden signed into law the CHIPS and Science Act to fortify U.S. supply chains against future issues and spur domestic manufacturing, all while enforcing national security and defense.
The restrictions announced Monday continue those the Biden administration issued in October 2022 and October 2023. It has also barred U.S. firms with CHIPS funding from building advanced technology facilities in China for at least a decade.
“The United States has taken significant steps to protect our technology from being used by our adversaries in ways that threaten our national security,” National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan said in a statement.
“As technology evolves, and our adversaries seek new ways to evade restrictions, we will continue to work with our allies and partners to proactively and aggressively safeguard our world-leading technologies and know-how so they aren’t used to undermine our national security.”
A spokesperson for Beijing’s Ministry of Commerce criticized the United States on Monday, characterizing the new restrictions as an abuse of export controls and a form of “unilateral bullying.”
“The semiconductor industry is highly globalized, and the abuse of control measures by the United States seriously hinders the normal economic and trade exchanges of all countries, seriously undermines market rules and the international economic and trade order, and seriously threatens the stability of the global industrial chain supply chain,” the spokesperson said in a statement.
Chinese foreign ministry spokesman Lin Jian told reporters during a press conference Monday that they oppose the United States’ “overstretching” of the definition of national security, accusing the Biden administration of “maliciously blocking and suppressing China.”
“This type of behavior seriously violates the laws of market economy and the principle of fair competition, disrupts international economic and trade order, destabilizes global industrial and supply chains, and will eventually harm the interests of all countries. China will take resolute measures to firmly defend the legitimate and lawful rights and interests of Chinese companies,” he said.