Tag: Commerce Department

What is in the CHIPS Act, Aimed at Childcare Expansion and National Security

Chin@Strategy

The Biden administration unveiled new rules Tuesday for its “Chips for America” program to build up semiconductor research and manufacturing in the United States, beginning a new rush toward federal funding in the sector. The Commerce Department has $50 billion to hand out in the form of direct funding, federal loans and loan guarantees. It represents one of the largest federal investments in a single industry in decades and highlights deepening concern in Washington about America’s dependence on foreign chips. Given the huge cost of building highly advanced semiconductor facilities,…

U.S. Blacklists 6 Chinese Entities Involved in Spy Balloon Programs

Chin@Strategy

WASHINGTON — The Biden administration clamped down on Friday on sales of some U.S. technology to several Chinese aviation and technology companies, as part of its response to a Chinese spy balloon that traversed U.S. airspace last week. The Commerce Department added five Chinese companies and one research institute to its so-called entity list, which will prevent companies from selling them American parts and technologies without a special license. Officials said the six entities had supported Chinese military programs related to airships and balloons used for intelligence and reconnaissance. Alan…

US Cracks Down on Chinese Companies for Security Concerns

Chin@Strategy

WASHINGTON — The Biden administration on Thursday stepped up its efforts to impede China’s development of advanced semiconductors, restricting another 36 companies and organizations from getting access to American technology. The action, announced by the Commerce Department, is the latest step in the administration’s campaign to clamp down on China’s access to technologies that could be used for military purposes and underscored how limiting the flow of technology to global rivals has become a prominent element of United States foreign policy. Administration officials say that China has increasingly blurred the…

Gina Raimondo, a Rising Star in the Biden Administration, Faces a $100 Billion Test

Chin@Strategy

WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. — Gina Raimondo, the commerce secretary, was meeting with students at Purdue University in September when she spotted a familiar face. Ms. Raimondo beamed as she greeted the chief executive of SkyWater Technology, a chip company that had announced plans to build a $1.8 billion manufacturing facility next to the Purdue campus. “We’re super excited about the Indiana announcement,” she said. “Call me if you need anything.” These days, Ms. Raimondo, a former Rhode Island governor, is the most important phone call in Washington that many chief…

Biden Just Clobbered China’s Chip Industry

Chin@Strategy

Semiconductors are among the most intricate tools that human beings have ever invented. They are also among the most expensive to make. The latest chips — the sort that power supercomputers and high-end smartphones — are densely packed with transistors so small they’re measured in nanometers. Perhaps the only things more ingenious than the chips themselves are the machines that are used to build them. These devices are capable of working on almost unimaginably tiny scales, a fraction of the size of most viruses. Some of the chip-building machines take…

U.S. Said to Plan New Limits on China’s A.I. and Supercomputing Firms

Chin@Strategy

The Biden administration has faced some criticism that it has moved slowly to curb China’s access to cutting-edge U.S. technology. For many administration officials, China’s recent progress in clearing a key technological hurdle in semiconductor manufacturing underscored the urgent need for more expansive regulation in the industry, people familiar with the discussions said. The export controls are part of a bigger strategy from the Biden administration to starve China of key technologies while pumping money into U.S. chip-making factories. The measures come as Beijing ramps up its aggression toward Taiwan,…

Exports to Russia Blocked by U.S. and Its Allies

Chin@Strategy

WASHINGTON — The United States, in partnership with its allies, has hit Russia with some of the most sweeping export restrictions ever imposed, barring companies across the world from sending advanced technology in order to penalize President Vladimir V. Putin for his invasion of Ukraine. The restrictions are aimed at cutting off the flow of semiconductors, aircraft components and other technologies that are crucial to Russia’s defense, maritime and aerospace industries, in a bid to cripple Mr. Putin’s ability to wage war. But the extent to which the measures hinder…

Chinese companies that aid Russia could face U.S. repercussions, commerce secretary warns.

Chin@Strategy

Gina Raimondo, the secretary of commerce, issued a stern warning Tuesday to Chinese companies that might defy U.S. restrictions against exporting to Russia, saying the United States would cut them off from American equipment and software they need to make their products. The Biden administration could “essentially shut” down Semiconductor Manufacturing International Corporation or any Chinese companies that defy U.S. sanctions by continuing to supply chips and other advanced technology to Russia, Ms. Raimondo said in an interview with The New York Times. The United States, the European Union and…

U.S. Cracks Down on Firms Said to Aid China’s Repression of Minorities

Chin@Strategy

WASHINGTON — The Biden administration said on Thursday that it would put limits on doing business with a group of Chinese companies and institutions it says are involved in misusing biotechnology to surveil and repress Muslim minorities in China and advancing Beijing’s military programs. In announcing one set of the moves, Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo said China was employing biotechnology and medical innovation “to pursue control over its people and its repression of members of ethnic and religious minority groups.” The administration said those efforts included the use of biometric…

U.S.-China Relations: What to Know

Chin@Strategy

[Follow live updates on the upcoming meeting between President Biden and China’s leader, Xi Jinping.] No relationship is shaping the planet more. And no relationship seethes, across such a wide and consequential set of issues, with more tension and mistrust. The United States and China are profoundly at odds on how people and economies should be governed. The two powers jockey for influence beyond their own shores, compete in technology, and maneuver for military advantages on land, in outer space and in cyberspace. But they are also major trade and…