nausea! To prevent China’s semiconductor development, the EU is incompetent and furious
Latest update time：2024-03-20
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According to a report by Bloomberg on March 18, the European Union is considering following the United States and launching an industry investigation to assess the dependence of European companies on imported chips from China, exaggerating the so-called Chinese traditional process chips (legacy chips, which refer to chips made with mature processes) to "national "Security" and "potential risks" brought by the global supply chain, taking the opportunity to pave the way for possible joint suppression measures by Europe and the United States.
Not long ago, the International Semiconductor Industry Association (SEMI) urged the EU to "think twice" before implementing more export controls or foreign investment rules.
Regarding the "risks" of Chinese chips that have been frequently hyped by the United States and the West, China has previously made it clear that unreasonably suppressing Chinese semiconductor companies on the grounds of so-called "national security" is an out-and-out act of economic bullying.
Bloomberg quoted a draft work statement it had seen as saying that the EU is considering whether to investigate the degree of embeddedness of China's traditional process chips or low-end chips in the European chip industry chain.
Reports indicate that the EU may follow the Biden administration's lead in investigating and evaluating the use of such chips in the U.S. supply chain.
Bloomberg mentioned that although the so-called traditional process chips do not involve cutting-edge technology, they play an important role in the global economy and are crucial to fields such as military, electric vehicles, and infrastructure. Europe and the United States use this to exaggerate the so-called "risks" of dependence on Chinese chips.
The report also said that the investigation being brewed by the European Commission may be the first step in joint measures with the United States, and may include other control measures in the future.
The report mentioned that currently, under the banner of safeguarding "national security," the U.S. government is constantly hyping up the so-called "threats" posed by China's growing investment in the chip industry, and is worried that Chinese companies will dominate the supply chain in this field. It is feared that China will become the protagonist of the chip industry chain after dominating industries such as solar energy and steel.
Bloomberg also quoted the above-mentioned draft as saying, "The EU and the United States will continue to collect and share non-confidential information and market intelligence on non-market policies and measures, and commit to consult with each other on planned actions."
The draft has not yet been finalized and is scheduled to be presented during the U.S.-EU Trade and Technology Council (TTC) meeting in Belgium in April. According to the report, the EU and the United States "may develop joint or cooperative measures."
A possible EU review is one of the agenda items planned for the TTC meeting, where the EU and the United States will work to extend their cooperation arrangements on the so-called supply chain early warning mechanism for another three years and extend an information-sharing mechanism that provides public support to the semiconductor industry. .
Representatives of the European Commission did not respond to Bloomberg's request for comment.
The United States coerces allies, but many countries respond coldly
For some time, the Biden administration has been unreasonably suppressing China in the field of chips and semiconductors, repeatedly expanding restrictions on chip exports to China, and even arbitrarily coercing allies including the Netherlands, Japan, Germany and South Korea, demanding restrictions on advanced chip manufacturing machines and users. The implementation of export restrictions on complex chips for the development of artificial intelligence has caused headaches for the global industrial chain and industry players, and many countries are unwilling to accept it.
Earlier this month, Bloomberg quoted people familiar with the matter as saying that both the Netherlands and Japan had a lukewarm response to the latest US efforts to contain China, saying they wanted to assess the impact of current restrictions before considering taking more stringent measures.
According to Yonhap News Agency's report on March 12, starting from the second half of last year, the United States has exerted increasing pressure on South Korea, even directly naming specific South Korean companies and treating South Korea's export of semiconductor equipment to China as a problem. Although the South Korean government "fully understands the U.S. position," "from the perspective of national interests, it is evaluating whether it should fully accept its demands." Sources said that the South Korean government will at least meet the U.S. demands "to a certain extent."
At the same time, U.S. chip companies are increasingly worried. Senior managers of major U.S. chip companies organized a group to meet with senior officials of the Biden administration in July last year to discuss China policy, hoping to persuade the U.S. government to abandon imposing more chip export restrictions on China. These companies worry that the new restrictions will cut off their connection with China, the largest market, damage their ability to invest in research and development, and ultimately weaken the United States' dominance in the chip industry.
In response to the United States' continuous tightening of control measures on chip exports to China, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Mao Ning said at a regular press conference on January 8 this year that the United States has continued to increase chip exports to China on the grounds of so-called "national security." Control measures to unreasonably suppress Chinese semiconductor companies are out-and-out acts of economic bullying.
Mao Ning said that the United States used "national security" as an excuse to restrict chip exports to China, but in fact the relevant measures completely exceeded the boundaries of the concept of national security and greatly restricted the normal trade of ordinary civilian chips. Nvidia's RTX4090 chip is positioned as a consumer-grade graphics card, mainly for "enthusiast-level" computer gamers. Affected by US export control measures, this chip was forced to be removed from the Chinese market. The United States also coerces some countries to suppress relevant Chinese companies, which has nothing to do with security and is a typical form of economic coercion.
Mao Ning said that the facts clearly show that the United States is deliberately suppressing the development of China's chip industry, not out of "national security" considerations, let alone legitimate competition, but an act of unilateral bullying without a principled bottom line, depriving emerging markets of and the right of developing countries to pursue a happy life. The actions of the United States have seriously affected the stability of the international production and supply chain, poisoned the atmosphere of international cooperation, and encouraged division and confrontation. This selfish approach is destined to shoot itself in the foot.
Source: Observer Network
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