The US spared China’s top producer of dynamic random-access memory (DRAM) from its latest round of chip export restrictions because of opposition from Japan, according to sources.
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The US Commerce Department’s Bureau of Industry and Security on Monday imposed an export ban on China over 24 types of chipmaking equipment and three categories of software essential for semiconductor development. It also added 140 Chinese companies to the Entity List, barring them from accessing products and tools containing US technologies without Washington’s approval.
But missing on that blacklist were some of China’s largest semiconductor companies, including ChangXin Memory Technologies (CXMT). Their absence was partly due to the influence of Japan, whose leading chipmaking tool producer Tokyo Electron is a major supplier to the Chinese firm, according to a person who was briefed on the matter but declined to be named.
CXMT did not immediately respond to a request for comment on Thursday.
The US had originally considered putting CXMT and 11 other Huawei Technologies suppliers on the list, according to a Bloomberg report. CXMT’s ultimate omission reflects the pressure faced by Washington from its allies to rein in its widening sanctions against Chinese companies, which are major customers of foreign chip equipment.
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Japan and the Netherlands, both home to the world’s most advanced manufacturers of chipmaking equipment, were exempted in the latest updates to the US Foreign Direct Product Rule, meaning that sanctioned Chinese companies can still buy some chip tools from these countries. Meanwhile, equipment made in Malaysia, Singapore, Israel, Taiwan and South Korea is subject to control.