US expands curbs to stop China's chiplet advancement and some DUV acquisition

The US Department of Commerce outlined new rules regarding expanded export restrictions to prevent China from acquiring advanced chips, closed loopholes, and added a new parameter to slow down China's development in chiplet technology.

According to a press release by the US Department of Commerce's Bureau of Industry and Security (BIS) published on October 17, the US submitted the Interim Final Rule for additional export controls on certain advanced computing items, making changes to the parameters and adding 13 China-based companies to the entity list. The effective date will be November 16, 2023, and the deadline for public comments is 60 days from when the rule is made public.

BIS removed "interconnect bandwidth" as a parameter for identifying restricted chips, modified the preexisting performance threshold, and added a new parameter called "performance density threshold," aimed at the chiplet technology that China-based chipmakers are eager to develop. BIS also imposed controls on additional types of semiconductor manufacturing equipment, including some DUV lithography systems.

These parameter changes apply to products classified as ECCN 3A090 and 4A090, which impacts Nvidia's chips and systems using, but not limited to, A100, A800, H100, H800, L40, L40S, and RTX 4090.

13 China-based entities, mostly subsidiaries of Biren Technology and Moore Threads, are added to the entity list on the ground that the US government believes these entities are involved in the development of advanced computing chips, which can be used to provide AI capabilities to further development of weapons of mass destruction, advanced weapons systems, and high-tech surveillance applications that create national security concerns.

Besides, the updated rules will establish a worldwide licensing requirement to stop chip shipments to companies outside China and Macau as long as their parent companies are headquartered in China, Macau, and other countries under the US arms embargoes or the US viewed as national security threats. The rules also expanded restrictions on semiconductor equipment to 21 other countries for which the US maintains arms embargoes.

Gina Raimondo, Secretary of Commerce of the US, said in the statement that the updated rules will increase the effectiveness of the export controls and further shut off pathways to evade restrictions. These controls maintain their clear focus on military applications and confront the threats to national security posed by the PRC government's military-civil fusion strategy.

According to a statement from the Chinese embassy, as reported by Reuters, they strongly object to the supplementary constraints, which they believe are imposed arbitrarily and driven by a political agenda. Such measures counter the principles of a market economy and fair competition and threaten the global economic and trade framework.

Source: DIGITIMES Asia, October 2023