Export licenses that allowed for some sales were canceled and sanctions were strengthened for successive launches of innovative new products.
The Financial Times (FT) reported on the 7th that the US Department of Commerce has revoked the export licenses of US companies exporting semiconductors to Chinese telecommunications equipment company Huawei. Despite US export controls, sanctions were strengthened as Huawei continued to introduce new products with cutting-edge technology.
The Ministry of Commerce announced on this day, “We have canceled some export licenses for some companies to Huawei.” Citing sources, the FT said the companies whose export licenses were revoked by the Commerce Department were Intel and Qualcomm. The State Department also explained that it is “continually evaluating how to protect our national security and foreign policy interests, and may revoke export licenses as part of that effort.”
In 2019, during the administration of Donald Trump, the United States put Huawei on an export embargo and banned products that use American technology from being exported to Huawei without the permission of the Department of Commerce. However, the following year, the Commerce Department approved export licenses for Intel and Qualcomm to sell certain semiconductors. This time he was blocked again.
The reason why the Ministry of Commerce canceled the export license despite opposition from domestic companies Intel and Qualcomm is because concerns about technology leaks or the suspension of sanctions have increased as Huawei continues to release new products with advanced semiconductors. In August last year, Huawei introduced the ‘Mate 60 Pro’ smartphone with a cutting-edge 7nm semiconductor (a nanometer, 1nm is 1 billionth of a meter), and in particular, last month, it launched a laptop equipped with Intel’s next-gen processor artificial generation (AI).
The Commerce Department has not approved any new export licenses for Huawei in more than a year, Reuters reported. The Joe Biden administration is reportedly considering sanctions against six Chinese companies suspected of supplying advanced semiconductors to Huawei.
Washington = Reporter Moon Byeong-ki weappon@donga.com
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