SAWT BEIRUT INTERNATIONAL

| 29 April 2024, Monday |

Chip cos, top US officials meet on China policy

Senior executives from U.S. chip companies will meet with Gina Raimondo, the secretary of commerce, Lael Brainard, the head of the national economic council, and Jake Sullivan, the director of the national security council, on Monday to discuss China policy, a source told Reuters.

According to two persons familiar with the situation, the CEOs of Intel Corp. (INTC.O) and Qualcomm Inc. (QCOM.O) planned to travel to Washington this week, according to Reuters on Friday. The source told Reuters that on Monday, representatives from the chip manufacturers, including Nvidia Corp (NVDA.O), will meet separately with Biden administration officials.

The Commerce Department declined to comment on any potential meetings. The White House also declined to comment.

Earlier on Monday, the U.S.-based Semiconductor Industry Association trade group called on the Biden administration to “refrain from further restrictions” on chip sales to China.

The Biden administration is considering updating a sweeping set of rules imposed in October to hobble China’s chip industry and a new executive order restricting some outbound investment.

China recently moved to restrict exports of raw materials such as gallium and germanium that are used in making chips.

Further rule-tightening by U.S. officials risks “disrupting supply chains, causing significant market uncertainty, and prompting continued escalatory retaliation by China,” the industry group said.

The group said it wants “the administration to refrain from further restrictions until it engages more extensively with industry and experts to assess the impact of current and potential restrictions to determine whether they are narrow and clearly defined, consistently applied, and fully coordinated with allies.”

Raimondo is overseeing a $39 billion semiconductor manufacturing subsidy program approved by Congress last year. The law also created a 25% investment tax credit for building chip plants, estimated to be worth $24 billion.

    Source:
  • Reuters