DailyPost 2774
US CHIP BAN
Technology has become major mover of geopolitics in today’s world. The battlelines generally have long drawn but it is important to sustain with it, and simultaneously keep delivering, what is expected out of it, from a purely technology and more product development point of view. US China chip war is no secret. At the forefront are the semiconductors, which are defining how fast any country can be the frontrunners in the Artificial Intelligence race. The disruption on the computing chip supply chain during Covid, which continued beyond it, made it clear to US and anyone who what wants tech supremacy, that the country cannot lag behind in its availability.
Besides its availability being ensured in a variety of ways, mainly out of adding / creating local production, equally important is how you handle your competitor. The history of the last couple of years indicates what the US is determined to do, vis-à-vis China to win this race. Today, US-China chip is an undeclared technology war which is the central part of the two countries’ competitive relationship. The Chip Act and consequent acts of ban in a very calibrated manner speaks of the clear-cut US designs and its capability to see it through.
While the intentions are very clear, diplomacy needs to make it look like normal business and nothing conspicuously unfriendly. With this tenor Blinken has recently stated that the “US chip bans are not meant to hobble China’s growth.” In a recent with the National Radio on Friday, quite contrary to impact it is likely to achieve or intended to achieve, US Secretary of State, said that the US controls on sending advanced computing chips to China are not meant to hold back China’s economy or technological development. On the ground it all started with bans on shipping chips to Huawei technologies.
Since 2022, that US has imposed sweeping controls on which computing chips can be exported to China. It cut off some sales from Nvidia, Advanced Micro Devices and Intel, among others. Now at least two US chipmakers Intel and Qualcomm have licences to keep shipping chips to Huawei. Intel chips are being used to power a Huawei new laptop model. This week two Republican lawmakers criticised the exemption for Intel. But Blinken used it as a sign that the US was not trying to hobble China. Blinken said that the US is focused only on the most sensitive technology that could pose a threat to their security. He clarified that they are not focussed on cutting off trade or holding back China.
THE VARIED MANIFESTATIONS OF THE US-CHINA CHIP WAR WILL KEEP PLAYING OUT FOR LONG TIMES TO COME.
Sanjay Sahay
Have a nice evening.