The effort to hobble Beijing s chipmaking ambitions will also hit Chinese chip toolmakers Piotech, opens new tab and SiCarrier Technology with new export restrictions as part of the package, which also takes aim at shipments of advanced memory chips and more chipmaking tools to China, Reuters reported.
The move is one of the Biden administration s last large-scale efforts to stymie China s ability to access and produce chips that can help advance artificial intelligence for military applications, or otherwise threaten U.S. national security.
It comes just weeks before the swearing-in of Republican former president Donald Trump, who is expected to retain many of Biden s tough-on-China measures.
The package includes curbs on China-bound shipments of high bandwidth memory (HBM) chips, critical for high-end applications like AI training; new curbs on 24 additional chipmaking tools and three software tools; and new export curbs on chipmaking equipment made in countries such as Singapore and Malaysia.
Among Chinese companies facing new restrictions are nearly two dozen semiconductor companies, two investment companies and over 100 chipmaking tool makers, the sources said.
U.S. lawmakers say some of the companies, including Swaysure Technology Co, Qingdao SiEn, and Shenzhen Pensun Technology Co, work with China s Huawei Technologies, the telecommunications equipment leader once hobbled by U.S. sanctions and now at the center of China s advanced chip production and development.
They will be added to the entity list, which bars U.S. suppliers from shipping to them without first receiving a special license.
Asked about the U.S. curbs, Chinese foreign ministry spokesman Lin Jian said such behaviour undermined the international economic trade order and disrupted global supply chains.
China will take measures to safeguard the rights and interests of its firms, he added at a regular press briefing on Monday.
The Chinese commerce ministry did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
China has stepped up its drive to become self-sufficient in the semiconductor sector in recent years, as the U.S. and other countries have restricted exports of the advanced chips and the tools to make them. However, it remains years behind chip industry leaders like Nvidia (NVDA.O), opens new tab in AI chips and chip equipment maker ASML (ASML.AS), opens new tab in the Netherlands.
The U.S. also is poised to place additional restrictions on Semiconductor Manufacturing International (0981.HK), opens new tab, China s largest contract chip manufacturer, which was placed on the Entity List in 2020 but with a policy that allowed billions of dollars worth of licenses to ship goods to it to be granted.
For the first time, the U.S. will add two companies that make investments in chips to the entity list. Chinese private equity firm Wise Road Capital and tech firm Wingtech Technology Co (600745.SS), opens new tab will be added.
