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United States China Politics

US Tightening Restrictions on Huawei Access To Technology, Chips (reuters.com) 60

The Trump administration announced on Monday it will further tighten restrictions on Huawei Technologies, aimed at cracking down on its access to commercially available chips. From a report: The U.S. Commerce Department actions will expand restrictions announced in May aimed at preventing the Chinese telecommunications giant from obtaining semiconductors without a special license -- including chips made by foreign firms that have been developed or produced with U.S. software or technology. The administration will also add 38 Huawei affiliates in 21 countries to the U.S. government's economic blacklist, the sources said, raising the total to 152 affiliates since Huawei was first added in May 2019.

Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross told Fox Business the restrictions on Huawei-designed chips imposed in May "led them to do some evasive measures. They were going through third parties," Ross said. "The new rule makes it clear that any use of American software or American fabrication equipment is banned and requires a license." Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said the rule change "will prevent Huawei from circumventing U.S. law through alternative chip production and provision of off-the-shelf chips." He added in a statement, "Huawei has continuously tried to evade" U.S. restrictions imposed in May.

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US Tightening Restrictions on Huawei Access To Technology, Chips

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  • by Anonymous Coward
    Great job Trump Administration! You are continuing down the path of making the US increasingly irrelevant to the rest of the world. You must know that if Huawei can't access the glorious and irreplaceable US technology that they will go out of business instead of simply turning to Chinese companies to develop their chips. Oh wait, they will just turn to Chinese companies and the US tech industry becomes an afterthought. On second thought, boo Trump Administration. You suck.
    • Re:Great Work! (Score:4, Insightful)

      by bobbied ( 2522392 ) on Monday August 17, 2020 @12:11PM (#60410775)

      And no thought of what is really behind this?

      No idea of the global geopolitical implications of what China is doing to the world and the cause of human rights I see.

      It would be one thing if the Chinees where innocent players here, if they where some third world economy, but they are not. They are a growing threat to the safety of the free world and they seem very willing to press any advantage they can. Further, they have an abysmal record of human rights abuses and show no signs of improving on that front.

      I think there are very good reasons to play a little bit of hard ball with China when we can. With the fate of Hong Kong on thin ice and China starting down the familiar path of human rights abuses there, we'd be wise to confront them when we can...

      • Re:Great Work! (Score:4, Insightful)

        by Joce640k ( 829181 ) on Monday August 17, 2020 @12:35PM (#60410897) Homepage

        And no thought of what is really behind this?

        Yep: It's election time and Trump is trying to divert attention away from the dead bodies that are still piling up.

      • Re:Great Work! (Score:4, Insightful)

        by Nidi62 ( 1525137 ) on Monday August 17, 2020 @12:52PM (#60411003)

        I think there are very good reasons to play a little bit of hard ball with China when we can. With the fate of Hong Kong on thin ice and China starting down the familiar path of human rights abuses there, we'd be wise to confront them when we can...

        Sure, but instead of really confronting China we are playing trade war games for domestic political points and burning through what international good will we have antagonizing allied leaders (again for domestic political points) while China is using the Belt and Road Initiative to expand influence in Africa and South America.

        We should be pressing them on their expansion into the South China Sea with their artificial island military bases. We should be pressing them on their treatment of Uighurs (and not telling them they are doing the right thing). We need to press them on their continued support of North Korea.

        China is playing the long game. We can't even look past the next election cycle.

        • I know it's not generally reported in the press... But who says Trump isn't doing these things?

          China is very interested in the next election cycle and are very much involved in trying to get Trump out of office. He's insisting that China get treated with less and less favoritism in the world markets, that their trade policy, currency manipulation and failure to protect intellectual property is unfair to the rest of the world and needs to be addressed. He is indeed protecting the free navigation in intern

      • Re:Great Work! (Score:4, Insightful)

        by the_B0fh ( 208483 ) on Monday August 17, 2020 @01:20PM (#60411141) Homepage
        WTF does anything of these have to do with human rights? If you want to talk about human rights, what about US causing half a million Iraqi deaths, destroying their economy, because, you know, freedum.

        So who's taking USA to task for spying on American citizens? Oh yeah, the Russians will do it, right?

        This is a purely short term economical thing Trump is doing. He wants to stop Huawei from dominating 5G installations, so that Cisco and Broadcom can catch up.

        All the rest of that shit is just theater. Unfortunately, by blocking ARM and other chips from being sold to Huawei, Trump just forced China to seriously upgrade their own capabilities, and that's not good for us.

        So, yeah, not just theater, but also flinging poop all around. Yay, so much winning.

      • You really should properly accredit that fine piece of propaganda you posted there :-)

      • Playing hardball only works when you have less to lose than the other team.

        Trump is gambling the future of American technological dominance in a game he can't win. He's winning battles, but he's losing the war... and what's worse, the other team isn't really even engaging in the battle with him.

        Yes.. Huawei will face chip shortages... for now. But they actually can make their own chips... just not on a comparable die size... for now. As a country, they are investing on a scale of nearly 30 times as much as
      • by dwater ( 72834 )

        Insightful my arse. You obviously have no clue.

        Why should Hong Kong have no national security law? Macau has one and it doing just fine - why automatically conclude that HK having one will spell disaster?

        Such bias in disgusting.

  • they look like big flagship phones like the galaxy note, but i wont buy one because i dont think the chinese are trustworthy either, might as well quit playing around and do a full scale 100% embargo on all chinese products and stop sending them products too,
  • by bobbied ( 2522392 ) on Monday August 17, 2020 @12:00PM (#60410713)

    Hear that way off in the distance? The Drums of war are getting closer.

    It's about time we realize that the Chinees are more than willing to take our money, and foster our dependence on them, while building their arms and preparing for war while we feel secure half a world away... It is not good that we are as intertwined with them economically because our world views and values are perpendicular. We value human rights, freedom and free speech, the Chinees value the collective and the state over the individual. We are in conflict and eventually will it will come to blows.

    • by Rosco P. Coltrane ( 209368 ) on Monday August 17, 2020 @12:11PM (#60410771)

      More like the sound of contruction workers erecting new factories in China to make the stuff the US won't export no more locally.

      Good job Orange Man: you're forcing evolution on companies that would have kept on buying American, had they had a chance.

      • by AmiMoJo ( 196126 )

        Yep, Qualcomm must be pissed that their lead if a few years is being eroded extra fast thanks to Orange Man. Millions of devices that would have included their chips are being designed around competing parts.

    • by Cyberax ( 705495 )

      Hear that way off in the distance? The Drums of war are getting closer.

      Unless the US invents another Gulf of Tonkin incident, there won't be a war. China will just continue to work on showing that the US is unreliable chaotic bitch, while China is a reliable partner. Then after 20 years or so the US will find itself alone, with a lot of warships but no economy to support them.

      • by fenrif ( 991024 )

        Like China was a reliable partner to Hong Kong? Tibet? Taiwan?

        China will continue to work on bribing people to look the other way and write puff piece speeches praising China. I doubt it has much more legs in it for that strategy then.

        • by Cyberax ( 705495 )

          Like China was a reliable partner to Hong Kong? Tibet? Taiwan?

          China considers these parts to be China, so no. Look at other countries around them: Malaysia, Singapore, Indonesia, Thailand, Russia, etc. China is also doing well in African countries.

          The US has withdrawn from these countries when it abandoned the TPP. China moved in immediately.

      • Don't need 20 years. Just another Trump term would do.
    • It's about time we realize that the Chinees are more than willing to take our money, and foster our dependence on them, while building their arms and preparing for war

      Why would they want to destroy their own property and influence? The Chinese government may be evil, ruthless, unscrupulous and malignant, but it isn't stupid. Exercising hard power, wars included, is neither economically nor politically as profitable as exercising soft power. They don't want to destroy the world and part of their own country. They want to own and rule it, preferably in an indirect way. And they're laser-focused on taking the long road towards that goal.

      Minor US sanctions like this one won'

    • We value human rights, freedom and free speech

      What country are you dialing from?

    • So other countries cannot have other systems and everyone has to follow the great American way or eventually it will be war. Ok Mein Fuhrer.

  • by dskoll ( 99328 ) on Monday August 17, 2020 @12:02PM (#60410727) Homepage

    In the short to medium term, this is really going to hurt Huawei. In the long term, China will come up with its own technology to rival or surpass US technology. These sorts of sanctions inevitably make the target more inventive and adaptable.

    • In the short to medium term, this is really going to hurt Huawei. In the long term, China will come up with its own technology to rival or surpass US technology. These sorts of sanctions inevitably make the target more inventive and adaptable.

      Case in point: Iran.

    • So the solution is clear! We must simply likewise place onerous regulations on ourselves in order to foster an inventive and adaptable market!

    • Moores Law and the maturity of current technology means China can only really match but not exceed what has already been produced. Usable quantum computing for general purpose use is the next big step needed for true AI and China does not have anything close to working yet. Other countries can and will begin to discriminate against China over the treatment of Uygur Muslims and other groups - as a result they will cave to pressure.
  • by EndlessNameless ( 673105 ) on Monday August 17, 2020 @12:19PM (#60410813)

    This is quite a refreshing change.

    The Chinese manufacturers have been ignoring copyrights and patents for years. The close ties between Chinese industry and the government are also worrisome from a national security standpoint. These restrictions are entirely appropriate.

    This is a good policy, and it should be supported... regardless of other opinions about the Trump administration.

    • by fenrif ( 991024 )

      The people opposing this seem to fall into one of three camps:

      Chinese citizens.

      People who benefit from Chinese "investment" (to put it politely)

      And people who think that all cultures are equal and valid and that if we all just hold hands and sing songs the world will be a utopia of peaceful trade and cooperation.

      Honestly I think the last group are the most dangerous.

      • Really? Not the actual warmongers and chickenhawks?

        • Really? Not the actual warmongers and chickenhawks?

          Nah, those'll "save" us from ourselves. They don't care what we think, just that we do what they say.

    • by AmiMoJo ( 196126 )

      Actually Huawei was licencing Qualcomm tech for their own Kirin chips, in exchange for Qualcomm using their 5G patents.

      So now Qualcomm not only losses sales, they have to pay Huawei licencing fees.

    • by dwater ( 72834 )

      China has the status of developing nation, so it is accepted. Complaining to China about it isn't reasonable. Complain to the WTO to remove that status - that would be rational.

  • by stabiesoft ( 733417 ) on Monday August 17, 2020 @12:45PM (#60410959) Homepage
    The more you tighten your grip, Tarkin, the more star systems will slip through your fingers.
  • I do not approve of China's government one single bit, for the record, before you all get blindly triggered.

    But I don't want to be accused of what IBM was accused of, after WWII...

    Simply put: If you call something evil, you cannot use that as a justification for doing equal evil. Rather you should do good. (Remember that Jesus guy, Christians? ;)
    And people who imitate their enemies like that, just get put into the same box with those enemies by me. Bash your heads in if you like. You're both out.

  • by nicolaiplum ( 169077 ) on Monday August 17, 2020 @01:16PM (#60411113)

    I have edited this press release to cover more of the facts for your convenience:

    THE INTERNET (Slashdot, with apologies to Reuters) - The Trump administration announced on Monday it will further encourage Huawei Technologies Co. to develop replacements for US technology.

    The U.S. Commerce Department actions, first reported by Reuters, will expand restrictions announced in May aimed at discouraging foreign firms from using any U.S. software or technology.

    Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross told Fox Business the restrictions on Huawei-designed chips imposed in May “led them to begin finding alternatives to American technology". “The new rule makes it clear that any use of American software or American fabrication equipment is dangerous and should be avoided," Ross said.

    The new actions, effective immediately, should ensure Huawei replaces all U.S. technology with Chinese alternatives, Commerce said.

    It “makes clear that we’re completely unreliable suppliers of technology and will try to control even third-party use of anything we think we control,” one Commerce Department official told Reuters.

    A new separate rule requires companies on the economic blacklist to obtain a license when a company like Huawei on the list acts “as a purchaser, intermediate consignee, ultimate consignee, or end user. This aggressive global over-reach will ensure that all companies in the world seek alternatives to U.S. technology suppliers."

    The department also confirmed it will force users of Huawei devices and telecommunication providers to seek additional licenses, in order to further damage their businesses.

    Huawei’s HiSilicon division has relied on software from U.S. companies such as Cadence Design Systems Inc (CDNS.O) and Synopsys Inc (SNPS.O) to design its chips and outsourced the production to Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC) (2330.TW), which uses equipment from U.S. companies. HiSilicon is expected to move design and production to Chinese companies which do not use any U.S. software or equipment.

    TSMC has said it will not ship wafers to Huawei after Sept. 15, and until it has removed its dependency on U.S. equipment and purchased alternatives from other countries.

    • Who doesn't know that the US will use its economic power to achieve its aims? And everybody knows that China will steal your tech and IP. Pick your poison.

  • First it was about Huawei being a security threat to the u.s. if that was so the u.s. could ban Huawei products as it has also largely done and imposed that on its partners. But the later moves involves preventing Huawei from producing any product at all. Of course everyone knows the real reason was to cripple huaweid smartphones business after they became the biggest player. Same as u.s. now going after Tiktok and alibaba. The u.s. is even commandeering what completely foreign companies (like TSMC) can do
    • (meant that 2001-2003 period marked the beginning of a new period of u.s. evilness which we are still in).
    • The US is merely imposing mutual restrictions. Iâ(TM)m not sure how that is evil. For example: The US doesnt allow EU eggs and the EU doesnt allow US eggs and its because the EU restricted the market that the US added rules to ban EU eggs. And that is OK! Do you not understand how trade is negotiated? You canâ(TM)t have one side imposing ridiculous restrictions and the other just agreeing to it without the other reserving the right to apply the same standard. If China wants open trade in any giv
      • Oh so it isn't about security anyway, you admit it's a trade war. You are now contradicting exactly what this press announcement says! Oops! Besides how do you know that this is an honest tit-for-that? Because trump said EU and China has been ripping off the united states? Of yeah that's solid proof!
  • China has already been hiring TSMC employees and stealing their tech.

    You know TSMC, the one with the more advanced process than Intel.

  • by ghoul ( 157158 )

    You know the fun will really start when the Trump administration sanctions ASML a Dutch company critical to UEV lithography for supplying equipment to HiSilicon. And then turn around and discover that Intel and AMAT and GF can no longer manufacture chips as they are not allowed to use ASML tech.
    These sanctions are like holding a gun to your own head and threatening the cops dont come near or I fire.

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