According to information relayed by Bloomberg, the Biden administration is considering blacklisting several of Huawei’s industrial partners. These Chinese companies are particularly specialized in the manufacturing of semiconductors.
According to information relayed by our colleagues from the Bloomberg site, the Biden administration intends to resume the attack against Huawei. This time, there is no question of directly targeting the Shenzhen firm. The White House would instead consider blacklisting several Chinese partners of the telecoms giant. These companies are particularly specialized in the manufacturing of semiconductors.
According to sources close to the matter, the companies affected by this possible ban are Qingdao Si’en, SwaySure and Shenzhen Pensun Technology Co. (PST). In addition, the US executive also wants to impose sanctions against the main Chinese chip manufacturer: ChangXin Memory Technologies Inc.
Also read: Huawei will soon lose this advantage which allows it to survive in the face of the American embargo
The White House wants to attack Huawei’s partners
Shenzhen Pengjin High-Tech Co and Sin Carrier, two other business partners of Huawei, are also said to be in the crosshairs of the United States. According to Bloomberg’s sources, these two companies supply semiconductor manufacturing equipment to Huawei as agents. This would therefore allow the firm to circumvent the American sanctions decreed against it.
If nothing has been done yet, this would mark a new escalation in current tensions between the American government and Beijing. It must be said that Huawei’s recent progress in chip manufacturing has aroused Uncle Sam’s concern. As a reminder, the manufacturer launched the Mate 60 Pro in August 2023, a smartphone powered by a 5G chip engraved in 7nm and manufactured in China by a partner, namely the company SMIC (Semiconductor Manufacturing International Corp).
The United States is worried about Huawei’s successes
However, as you may know, Huawei’s blacklisting prevents it from using American technologies to develop these 5G chips. How could she have achieved this then? As Bloomberg explained again in December 2023, the company would have used DUV (Deep Ultraviolet Lithography) machines, devices protected by American patents, to design its HiSilicon Kirin 9000S 7nm processor.
Huawei would have exploited a flaw, particularly relating to the fineness of the engraving. Indeed, if manufacturers of EUV machines (devices used to manufacture 3 nm and 4 nm chips) are prohibited from supplying them to China, the export of DUV machines (devices limited to 7 nm) remains tolerated. For now, the White House Security Council and the Commerce Department’s Office of Industry and Security have declined to comment on Bloomberg’s information. The same goes for the representatives of the various Chinese companies mentioned above.
Source: Bloomberg