The US Department of Defense said on 5 September that it was thinking of adding Semiconductor Manufacturing International Corporation (SMIC) to the Department of Commerce’s so-called Entity List, media reports said. China’s SMIC provides chips to Qualcomm, Broadcom, and Texas Instruments, among others. The Entity list imposes license requirements for products set for export. The US recently tightened that list, to “prevent Huawei’s attempts to circumvent US export controls to obtain electronic components developed or produced using US technology,” the department said. US officials have long alleged that Chinese tech firms pose national security risks.
Founded in 2000, SMIC is listed on both the Shanghai and Hong Kong Stock exchanges, having quit the New York exchange in 2019. The Register noted. The company operates five chip-making plants in China and in documents, published ahead of its July 2020 Shanghai listing, revealed it can create just under half a million wafers a month and can deliver products built on processes from 0.35μm to 14nm. SMIC is capable of producing SoCs for mobile phones and also claims it can put out "logic, mixed-signal/RF CMOS, high voltage, flash, EEPROM, CIS and LCoS micro-display technology."
The US Department of Defense said in a statement that it "is currently working with the interagency in assessing available information to determine if SMIC's actions warrant adding them to the Department of Commerce's Entity List. Such an action would ensure that all exports to SMIC would undergo a more comprehensive review." In a statement, SMIC denied it has any ties with the Chinese military and said it was "strictly complying with the laws and regulations of all jurisdictions where it performs its businesses."
"The company is in complete shock and perplexity to the news. Nevertheless, SMIC is open to sincere and transparent communication with US government agencies in hope of resolving potential misunderstandings," it said in a statement.
A spokesperson for the Chinese Foreign Ministry accused the US of "blatant hegemony" and said China was "firmly opposed" to such actions, CNBC reported.
“China has made a solemn stand on (the) US unprovoked suppression on Chinese companies,” Zhao told reporters, according to a CNBC translation of his comments in Mandarin. “For a period of time, the US has generalized the concept of national security, used state power to set all kinds of restrictions on Chinese companies.”
