The US government, according to a report from Reuters, is asking allies to stop domestic companies from servicing certain chip-making tools for Chinese customers, a U.S. Commerce department official said on March 27th.
“We’re pushing for not servicing of those key components and these are the discussions we are having with our allies,” stated export controls chief Alan Estevez, as reported by Reuters during an annual conference. “We are working with our allies to determine what is important to service and what is not important to service,” hinting that the US is not proposing restrictions on non-core components that Chinese firms can repair themselves.
The recent trigger for heightened vigilance in the US was Huawei’s launch of a new 5G smartphone in August last year, equipped with domestically manufactured advanced 7-nanometer…
