Air Freight News

China buys near-record $40 billion of chip gear to beat US curbs

China’s imports of chipmaking machines jumped last year as firms ramped up investment in an attempt to get around US-led efforts to hobble the nation’s semiconductor industry. 

Imports of the machinery used to make computer chips rose 14% in 2023 to almost $40 billion — the second largest amount by value on record in data going back to 2015, according to Bloomberg calculations based on official customs data. The increase came despite a 5.5% drop in total imports last year, underscoring the importance that the Chinese government and the nation’s chip industry have placed on becoming self-sufficient.

Chinese chip companies are rapidly investing in new semiconductor factories to try and advance the nation’s capabilities and get around export controls imposed by the US and its allies. Those curbs are making it harder for Chinese companies to get access to the machines needed to make the most powerful chips — and slowing the development of China’s high-tech sector, which is seen as a threat to the US. 

China’s imports from the Netherlands soared last year ahead of new export controls, which will further limit the ability of companies such as Semiconductor Manufacturing International Corp. to get the latest machinery.

In December, imports of lithography equipment from the Netherlands jumped almost 1,000% from a year earlier to $1.1 billion as firms rushed to buy ahead of the start of Dutch restrictions this month.

Even before those curbs came into effect, Dutch company ASML Holding NV had canceled shipments of some of its top-of-the-line machines to China at the request of the US government, Bloomberg reported earlier this month. The cancellations came weeks before export bans on the high-end chipmaking equipment came into effect. 

Bloomberg
Bloomberg

{afn_job_title}

© Bloomberg
The author’s opinion are not necessarily the opinions of the American Journal of Transportation (AJOT).

Similar Stories

https://www.ajot.com/images/uploads/article/November-2024-Freight-Shipment-Index-Infographic-%281%29.png
November 2024 Freight Transportation Services Index
View Article
Viet Nam hosts 16th United Nations Conference on Trade and Development In October 2025

UN Trade and Development (UNCTAD) Secretary-General Rebeca Grynspan announced today that the sixteenth session of the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD 16) will take place in Viet…

View Article
https://www.ajot.com/images/uploads/article/Stainless-steels-and-special-alloy.png
Alleima relaunches high-strength and corrosion-resistant steel for sustainable energy sectors
View Article
United States and Norway issue innovative report creating greater transparency in critical mineral supply chains

Today, the U.S. Department of Commerce and the Norwegian Ministry of Trade, Industry, and Fisheries issued a thorough, innovative report presenting our shared understanding of non-market policies and practices (NMPPs)…

View Article
December CNBC/NRF retail monitor results show strong growth boosted by final Thanksgiving weekend days

Retail sales jumped strongly in December, boosted in part by two busy holiday shopping days during Thanksgiving weekend falling in the final month of the year, according to the CNBC/NRF…

View Article
NAW presents Dirk Van Dongen Lifetime Achievement Award to Bergman, CEO of Henry Schein, Inc.

At the 2025 NAW Executive Summit Gala on January 28 in Washington, D.C.

View Article