This week, the administration of Joe Biden is set to announce new rules that would set limits to the technologies that Chinese firms can access, according to New York Times.
The measures will apply to technology that enable high-performance computing. According to reports from Engadget and Reuters, this move will be done to prevent Beijing from creating advanced weapons and surveillance systems.
New Measures Are Expected to Arrive This Week
The plan to set limits on the tech that would be sent to China aims to curb down China's access to advanced semiconductor technology.
The New York Times was the first to break the news. According to the news site, we could expect the new restrictions to arrive as early as this week.
In addition, the White House also plans to restrict selling of U.S.-made microchips to the most powerful supercomputing and data center projects of China.
The announcement of the new measures is considered to be some of the "most significant steps taken by the Biden administration" to restrict China's access to advanced semiconductor technology of the U.S.
It can be recalled that during the Trump era, companies around the world were prohibited from sending products, which are made using American technology, machinery or software, to Chinese telecom giant Huawei.
It expected that there will be a number of Chinese firms including government research labs and other entities who will experience the same restrictions faced by Huawei, according to New York Times.
As part of the implementation of the restrictions, the companies that utilize American-made technologies would not be allowed to sell to the Chinese firms identified by the U.S. government.
As of writing, there are no information yet regarding the Chinese firms and labs that would be affected by the new measures.
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U.S. Plans to Restrict Shipment of Microchips, Semiconductors to China
Selling of cutting-edge U.S.-made tools to China's domestic semiconductor industry will also be controlled by the Biden administration, according to reports.
Likewise, the measures also involve limiting the sale of U.S.-made microchips to China's most powerful supercomputing and data center projects.
If this will happen, academic institutions and firms like Alibaba and Tencent will be affected as parts to build leading data centers and supercomputers will be limited.
It will be a domino effect for China as hindering the country's ability to develop the "powerful number-crunching technology" would affect a wide array of fields, including the biosciences, artificial intelligence and missile engineering.
Last month, Reuters published a report that the Biden administration is planning to restrict the U.S. shipments of semiconductors used for artificial intelligence and chipmaking tools to China.
The restrictions are part of the U.S. move to control the shipment of technology to China that could possibly provide support to the country's military sector.
According to national security advisor Jake Sullivan, technology export controls "can be a new strategic asset in the U.S. and allied toolkit to impose costs on adversaries, and even over time degrade their battlefield capabilities."
Sullivan added that the U.S. must keep a large lead as possible when it comes to technologies such as microchips and semiconductors.
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