WASHINGTON, DC – JULY 25: U.S. Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo listens as U.S. President Joe Biden virtually participates in a meeting on the Creating Useful Semiconductor Production Incentives (CHIPS) Act for the ‘America, at the South Court Auditorium of the White House in July. 25, 2022 in Washington, DC.
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Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo on Sunday downplayed the significance of Huawei Technologies’ latest microchip breakthrough, arguing that the United States remains far ahead of China in this critical technology.
The comments, made on CBS News’ “60 Minutes,” are consistent with the Commerce secretary’s position that the Biden administration’s restrictions on chip sales to China are working, despite the appearance of an advanced chip made in China in a Huawei phone last year. .
“It’s years behind what we have in the United States. We have the most sophisticated semiconductors in the world. China does not. We have surpassed China in innovation,” Raimondo said in the interview broadcast Sunday evening in the United States.
US blacklisted Huawei launched the Mate 60 Pro smartphone in August, featuring a 5G-capable chip – a feat that would have been made difficult by a series of US export controls in late 2022. phone was launched while Raimondo was visiting China.
Before the trip, it was reported that Chinese hackers had accessed Raimondo’s email.
“I clearly have their attention,” she said, adding that the United States would continue to pursue actions to protect national security and American businesses.
Huawei’s chip manufacturing partner SMIC “potentially” violated US law by supplying an advanced chip to the Chinese phone maker, according to a senior Commerce Department official.
Since the release of the Mate 60 Pro, the United States has further tightened restrictions on sales of advanced semiconductor technologies to China.
Chinese officials have repeatedly denounced the policies, which require licenses for any company around the world wanting to sell products with advanced U.S.-designed chip technology to countries considered adversaries.
Many U.S. chip companies, which rely on China for much of their business, have also expressed concerns about losing market access.
“We want to trade with China on the vast majority of goods and services,” Raimondo said. “But on technologies that affect our national security, no.”
The global race for chips intensified after Moscow’s invasion of Ukraine in 2022, prompting the United States and its allies such as the Netherlands and Japan to tighten controls on exports of advanced technologies. CNBC previously reported that Russia has acquired advanced Western technologies through intermediary countries like China.
“It’s absolutely true that our export controls have harmed (Russia’s) ability to fight the war, made the war more difficult,” Raimondo said, while admitting that Russia had found alternative sources of fleas.
The Commerce Department also oversaw allocation of the Biden administration’s nearly $53 billion CHIPS Act, aimed at growing the U.S. domestic semiconductor industry and undercutting competitors’ prices like China.
In recent weeks, billions in grants and loans have been earmarked for chipmakers. Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co., Samsung Electronics And Micron technologyall of which increase production capacity in the United States
Raimondo told CNBC earlier this month that all CHIPS Act grants would be sent out by the end of the year.
Read the full report on CBS.
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