Michael McCaul, chair of the House Foreign Affairs Committee, urged US Commerce Department agents to visit the production sites of China’s Semiconductor Manufacturing International Corporation (SMIC) and check whether this company is involved in making chips for Huawei Technologies.
It is worth noting that the mentioned activity is illegal from the point of view of the current United States sanctions regime. Huawei is under sanctions from Washington. For this reason, cooperation with the specified company violates the US restrictive measures regime. Moreover, the United States has been very attentive to the chip manufacturing sector lately. In this context, Washington-based policymakers explain their actions for national security reasons. The United States has already restricted the supply of advanced chips and equipment needed to manufacture microcircuits of the appropriate category to China. Washington stated that Beijing can use chips to strengthen its military capabilities.
In the letter, the contents of which were reviewed by journalists, Michael McCaul stated the growing bipartisan frustration regarding that the Commerce Department’s Bureau of Industry and Security (BIS) had not acted on reports of Huawei’s efforts to evade US export controls. He also noted that the administration of United States President Joe Biden is not doing enough to prevent SMIC from strengthening chip production in China and the local military-industrial complex.
Michael McCaul wrote to BIS undersecretary Alan Estevez about the growing evidence that the mentioned company is violating US export control laws. He also stated that if China does not immediately agree to a comprehensive audit of all SMIC facilities and its books, BIS should pause all existing licenses of this firm.
Besides, Michael McCaul said SMIC’s breakthroughs are a smoking gun for a violation. In this case, it means an advanced chip in a Huawei smartphone and the expected production of more than a million artificial intelligence processors for the same company. He also noted that the mentioned breakthroughs can help China surpass the United States in the area of artificial intelligence.
The Commerce Department said it had received Michael McCaul’s letter and would respond through appropriate channels.
As we have reported earlier, Analysts Say About China’s Lagging in Cut-Edge Chips Manufacturing.
