Oct 22: China is demanding some US semiconductor firms submit sensitive information about their sales in the world’s largest chips market as part of its probe of American suppliers.
Trade Remedy and Investigation Bureau under Ministry of Commerce published questionnaires designed to gather intelligence for an anti-dumping investigation on certain American-made analog IC chips, the sort of products sold by Texas Instruments and Analog Devices. The bureau seeks data on sales activities in China, including a comparison of the costs and profits for the investigated chips in their home country and the Asian nation.
While Chinese officials have yet to name any particular businesses, the initial probe and this latest development are seen as signals from Beijing of its ability to curtail trade for US firms in a reciprocal manner to US export curbs. It remains unclear which companies will be expected to fill out the questionnaires.
Among other requests, the Beijing fair-trade bureau asks for the names of Chinese customers and transaction details, including sales volumes and various costs from logistics to warehousing. The questionnaires ask for information on raw material suppliers working with these US chip firms. Companies will be given 37 days to provide their answers.
China initiated two investigations targeting American chipmakers last month, while trade talks between the world’s two largest economies were underway. Semiconductors have become a focal point of the bilateral contest, as the US has cut off China’s access to the most advanced artificial intelligence accelerators and used the licensing of some less-powerful Nvidia hardware as a bargaining chip — though Chinese officials have pushed back and expressed reservations about security risks.
The analog chips that Beijing is now looking into are used to help digital systems interface with the real world, handling tasks like wireless signal amplification and power and voltage regulation. They don’t require cutting-edge chipmaking, but are essential in everything from smartphones and electric vehicles to medical imaging.
bloomberg.com/news/articles/
Trade Remedy and Investigation Bureau under Ministry of Commerce published questionnaires designed to gather intelligence for an anti-dumping investigation on certain American-made analog IC chips, the sort of products sold by Texas Instruments and Analog Devices. The bureau seeks data on sales activities in China, including a comparison of the costs and profits for the investigated chips in their home country and the Asian nation.
While Chinese officials have yet to name any particular businesses, the initial probe and this latest development are seen as signals from Beijing of its ability to curtail trade for US firms in a reciprocal manner to US export curbs. It remains unclear which companies will be expected to fill out the questionnaires.
Among other requests, the Beijing fair-trade bureau asks for the names of Chinese customers and transaction details, including sales volumes and various costs from logistics to warehousing. The questionnaires ask for information on raw material suppliers working with these US chip firms. Companies will be given 37 days to provide their answers.
China initiated two investigations targeting American chipmakers last month, while trade talks between the world’s two largest economies were underway. Semiconductors have become a focal point of the bilateral contest, as the US has cut off China’s access to the most advanced artificial intelligence accelerators and used the licensing of some less-powerful Nvidia hardware as a bargaining chip — though Chinese officials have pushed back and expressed reservations about security risks.
The analog chips that Beijing is now looking into are used to help digital systems interface with the real world, handling tasks like wireless signal amplification and power and voltage regulation. They don’t require cutting-edge chipmaking, but are essential in everything from smartphones and electric vehicles to medical imaging.
bloomberg.com/news/articles/
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Byron Wan
@Byron_Wan
China has launched two investigations targeting the US semiconductor sector ahead of planned talks between the two nations on trade and other issues.
Ministry of Commerce issues a statement on Sep 13 (mofcom.gov.cn/zwgk/zcfb/art/) saying that it’s opened an anti-dumping probe
Show more Ministry of Commerce issues a statement on Sep 13 (mofcom.gov.cn/zwgk/zcfb/art/) saying that it’s opened an anti-dumping probe