US President Joe Biden’s administration is set to initiate a trade investigation into Chinese semiconductors in the coming days as part of a push to reduce reliance on a technology that US officials believe poses national security risks.
The probe could result in tariffs or other measures to restrict imports on older-model semiconductors and the products containing them, including medical devices, vehicles, smartphones and weaponry, people familiar with the matter said.
The investigation examining so-called foundational chips could take months to conclude, meaning that any reaction to the findings would be left to the discretion of US president-elect Donald Trump’s incoming team.
Photo: Bloomberg
Biden officials have for months debated whether to initiate the investigation under Section 301, which allows the US to impose restrictions on countries with unfair trade practices, the people said.
This week, White House officials agreed to move forward with the inquiry that could help protect the US chip industry.
Approving the probe now means that the new Trump administration would likely have the option to impose trade restrictions to protect domestic semiconductor production in the early months of the president-elect’s term.
Bolstering the US semiconductor industry has been a key focus for Biden, who has taken steps to limit advanced US technology from being exported to China.
Biden signed into law a bill that provided billions of dollars of incentives for chipmakers to build semiconductor factories in the US to stave off a need for cheaper Chinese-made chips.
Spokespeople for the US National Security Council and the US trade representative declined to comment.
The White House in the past two years has implemented export restrictions on advanced semiconductors made with US and allied technology, but in the meantime, China has manufactured the older, widely available types of semiconductors at a lower cost than its competitors.
Officials in the Biden administration worry that without restrictions, Beijing would flood the US and global markets with inexpensive chips, undercutting other companies and running them out of business.
In May, the White House announced that by next year it would increase tariffs on Chinese legacy semiconductors to 50 percent from 25 percent.
However, the Biden team largely agreed that was not enough to prevent a market disruption, especially as the US is looking to increase domestic production of semiconductors.
To impose those tariffs, Biden used the same authority Trump employed to levy more than US$300 billion in tariffs on Chinese goods during his first term.
Taiwan would remain in the same international network for carrying out cross-border payments and would not be marginalized on the world stage, despite jostling among international powers, central bank Governor Yang Chin-long (楊金龍) said yesterday. Yang made the remarks during a speech at an annual event organized by Financial Information Service Co (財金資訊), which oversees Taiwan’s banking, payment and settlement systems. “The US dollar will remain the world’s major cross-border payment tool, given its high liquidity, legality and safe-haven status,” Yang said. Russia is pushing for a new cross-border payment system and highlighted the issue during a BRICS summit in October. The existing system
Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電) is expected to grow its revenue by about 25 percent to a new record high next year, driven by robust demand for advanced technologies used in artificial intelligence (AI) applications and crypto mining, International Data Corp (IDC) said yesterday. That would see TSMC secure a 67 percent share of the world’s foundry market next year, from 64 percent this year, IDC senior semiconductor research manager Galen Zeng (曾冠瑋) predicted. In the broader foundry definition, TSMC would see its market share rise to 36 percent next year from 33 percent this year, he said. To address concerns
Intel Corp chief financial officer Dave Zinsner said that a formal separation of the company’s factory and product development divisions is an open question that would be decided by the chipmaker’s next leader. Zinsner, who is serving as interim co-CEO following this month’s ouster of Pat Gelsinger, made the remarks on Thursday at the Barclays technology conference in San Francisco alongside co-CEO Michelle Johnston Holthaus. Intel’s struggles to keep pace with rivals — along with its deteriorating financial condition — have spurred speculation that the next CEO would make dramatic changes. That has included talk of a split of the company’s manufacturing
PROTECTIONISM: The tariffs would go into effect on Jan. 1 and are meant to protect the US’ clean energy sector from unfair Chinese practices, the US trade chief said US President Joe Biden’s administration plans to raise tariffs on solar wafers, polysilicon and some tungsten products from China to protect US clean energy businesses. The notice from the Office of US Trade Representative (USTR) said tariffs on Chinese-made solar wafers and polysilicon would rise to 50 percent from 25 percent and duties on certain tungsten products would increase from zero to 25 percent, effective on Jan. 1, following a review of Chinese trade practices under Section 301 of the US Trade Act of 1974. The decision followed a public comment period after the USTR said in September that it was considering
RSS