New chip restrictions for China

According to the announcement from the Bureau of Industry and Security (BIS) under the US Department of Commerce, export restrictions have been imposed on 24 types of chip production equipment and three software categories used in semiconductor development.
Within the scope of these restrictions, the export of High Bandwidth Memory (HBM) components used in AI chips to China will also be prohibited.
To make the restrictions more effective, a process called the "foreign direct product rule" (FDPR) will be implemented, and exports to China by foreign companies with American-origin parts in their products and equipment will be monitored.
Meanwhile, the Department of Commerce announced plans to add 140 Chinese companies to an "entity list". Companies on this list cannot sell products or services without special government permission.
The aim is to prevent China from producing advanced technology chips for military modernization.
US Secretary of Commerce Gina Raimondo emphasized that the restrictions are intended to prevent China from using chip technology in advanced military technologies and weapon systems.
The Secretary stated, "These restrictions are the strongest controls to date to block the People's Republic of China's ability to produce the most advanced technology chips used in its military modernization."
These restrictions are the latest restrictive and protectionist measures applied by the Biden administration to the chip sector, ahead of the transition to Donald Trump, who was elected as the 47th President of the US on January 20th.
CHINA'S REACTION
Chinese Foreign Ministry Spokesperson Lin Cien argued at a regular press conference in Beijing that the US is trying to obstruct and suppress China by abusing export controls.
Emphasizing China's opposition to the US's excessive expansion of its national security concept, Lin stated, "This behavior violates the rules of market economy and fair competition principles, damages the international economic and trade order, and disrupts the stability of global industrial and supply chains."
Lin warned that the restrictions would harm the interests of all countries and signaled that China would take decisive measures to protect the legitimate and legal rights and interests of its companies.
THE CHIP WAR STARTED IN 2022
The Biden administration had placed preventing the transfer of key technologies that could threaten US national security at the center of its competition strategy with China.
The CHIPS and Science Act, which went into effect on August 10, 2022, with Biden's approval, clearly demonstrated Washington's intention to curb China's technological capabilities in this sector by restricting Chinese manufacturers' access to advanced chip technologies.
On October 7, 2022, the Bureau of Industry and Security (BIS) under the US Department of Commerce announced that 31 companies and institutions, including China's largest memory chip producer Yangzte Memory Technologies and largest semiconductor equipment manufacturer Naura Technology Group, were added to the Export Control List.
Additionally, President Biden, in a presidential decree signed on August 10, 2023, on the anniversary of the CHIPS and Science Act's adoption, imposed restrictions on American companies' venture capital and equity investments in China in three critical technology areas: semiconductors and microelectronics, quantum information technologies, and artificial intelligence systems.