Joe Biden’s Chip-Export Controls Designed to Give US an Advantage Over China
The Biden administration's restrictions on semiconductor technology exports to China are designed to help the US maintain as large a lead in technology as possible over rivals, said an official, who also addressed national security concerns such as China's efforts to develop artificial intelligence that has military uses.
The new rules laid out last week stem from US concerns that China can use AI to improve military capabilities, support surveillance for human rights abuses and “disrupt or manufacture outcomes that undermine democratic governance and sow social unrest,” Assistant Secretary of Commerce for Export Administration Thea D. Rozman Kendler told an audience on a public call on Thursday.
“China's military-civil fusion strategy seeks to eliminate barriers between its military and civilian research and commercial sectors, which has resulted in additional controls on China,” she added.
Kendler's comments were the first since Washington unveiled sweeping regulations to curb the sale of semiconductors and chipmaking equipment to its chief geopolitical rival, sending shockwaves through the $550 billion industry. Markets plummeted as investors pondered the wider impact on China's economy as well as the fallout for the world's biggest chip firms. On Thursday, Kendler tried to calm investors.
“We scoped our measures narrowly, to focus only on the equipment, activities and entities of greatest national security concern and that ensures that our actions will have the least possible impact on commercial activity and not cause disruptions to global supply chain,” she said.
The Philadelphia Semiconductor Index turned positive and gained 2.6% after earlier falling as much as 5%.
Kendler also highlighted that the US is working with
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