US holds off export curbs on legacy-chip technology

The US government isn’t planning on expanding export restrictions to include chipmaking equipment used for manufacturing mature semiconductors. Previously, US Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo voiced concern about the build-up of manufacturing capacity for legacy chips in China. She announced an industry survey to determine whether measures were necessary to protect the US mature-chip supply chain. This seemed a prelude to additional export curbs, which so far only targeted cutting-edge chips and equipment.

Speaking to Nikkei, however, Assistant Secretary of Commerce Thea Rozman Kendler said that the US has “no interest” in issuing a new set of export rules. “We’ve tried very hard to make sure that our semiconductor controls are as narrow as possible to make sure that we’re addressing only our national security threat and nothing more.”