16 hours Ago By Mimansa
The United States Trade Representative (USTR) has launched an investigation into China’s semiconductor trade policies and practices, alleging that the latter sought to “dominate” global market via “extensive anticompetitive and non-market means,” the USTR office said in a press release . The investigation seeks to assess if China’s practices ultimately contribute to any “unreasonableness or discrimination or burden or restriction on U.S.
commerce.” This investigation, undertaken by the outgoing Joe Biden administration, will first focus on China’s manufacturing of foundational semiconductors— also known as legacy or mature node semiconductors — found in everyday use electronic products. It will look into the extent to which Chinese semiconductors are incorporated as components into downstream products for major industries like defence, automotive, medical devices, aerospace, telecommunications, and power generation and the electrical grid.
USTR informed that it will be seeking public comments and will hold a public hearing in connection with this investigation. It has also requested consultations with China for the same. The US government has initiated this investigation under Section 301 of the Trade Act of 1974, that the 2016 Donald Trump administration used to justify tariff hikes on Chinese products, as per reports .
Semiconductors and Geopolitics: The semiconductors industry has become especially competitive with the exponential rise of Artificial Intelligence (AI). More and more countries are looking to become independent of external forces—dubbed as the race to develop “Sovereign AI”. This has translated into countries not only building a local semiconductor industry but also taking stock of the dependence on external market leaders like China, US, etc, as reports suggest .
In a recent MediaNama discussion on ‘Governing the AI Ecosystem,’ some speakers also noted how AI has become the new battleground for showcasing technology supremacy . This assumes significance when seen in the backdrop of an ongoing trade showdown between the United States and China, with China starting a probe into US-based chipmaker Nvidia after the US imposed export restrictions on 140 companies operating from China, in what was seen largely as an attempt to prevent the country from accessing advanced AI technology. Some reports have also suggested that China may be using publicly available AI models to develop an AI tool for potential military applications.
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