US is asking allies to tighten servicing of chip gear in China

The US is asking allies to impose more restrictions on maintaining chipmaking equipment in China as the Biden administration seeks to further thwart Beijing’s ambition to build cutting-edge semiconductors. 

“We are pushing for not servicing these key components, so these are discussions we’re having with our allies,” Under Secretary of Commerce for Industry and Security Alan Estevez told reporters in Washington on Wednesday. He added that the US is not looking to limit equipment suppliers from maintaining more peripheral parts that Chinese firms are able to repair themselves. 

American officials were caught by surprise when Huawei Technologies Co. launched a new 5G smartphone powered by an advanced China-made 7-nanometer chip in 2023. Huawei and its chipmaking partner Semiconductor Manufacturing International Corp. still relied on foreign equipment from US suppliers including Applied Materials Inc. and Dutch supplier ASML Holding NV to produce the chip, Bloomberg News reported. 

Following Huawei’s breakthrough, the US has been pressing allies to tighten China’s access to cutting-edge technology. Washington has restricted Applied Materials and its US peers from servicing their equipment deployed at blacklisted Chinese entities. The Netherlands and Japan, meanwhile, do not have similar bans on their companies.