An illustration of a computer chip Photo: VCG

US lawmakers are reportedly seeking broader restrictions on chipmaking equipment exports to China. A Chinese expert on Wednesday described the proposed move as another example of the US' "long-arm jurisdiction" that would further disrupt the global chip industry and supply chains and hurt businesses, including those in the US.

Reuters reported on Tuesday that US lawmakers are calling for broader bans on chipmaking equipment exports to China after a bipartisan investigation claimed that Chinese chipmakers had purchased $38 billion of sophisticated gear last year.

A report released on Tuesday by the US House of Representatives Select Committee on China asserted that inconsistencies in rules issued by the US, Japan and the Netherlands have led to non-US chip equipment manufacturers selling to some Chinese firms that US companies could not, according to Reuters. 

The committee called for broader bans by the US and its allies on chipmaking tool sales to China, rather than narrower bans on sales to specific Chinese chipmakers, according to the report.

"The US approach reflects its 'long-arm jurisdiction' mindset, attempting not only to control domestic companies but also to interfere with the normal operations of enterprises in other countries... Such actions seriously violate the fundamental principles of a free market economy," Zhou Mi, a senior research fellow at the Chinese Academy of International Trade and Economic Cooperation, told the Global Times on Wednesday.

The US uses so-called "ideology" as a pretext to interfere in normal business operations, which violates international norms and harms companies' interests, Zhou said, warning that China's chip industry has grown steadily, supplying both the domestic and global markets and supporting the world's digital economy.

China has long opposed the US' restriction measures in the chip industry. 

China's Ministry of Commerce announced on September 13 that it has initiated an anti-dumping investigation into imports of certain analog IC chips originating from the US.

In response to a media query, a spokesperson for the ministry said the US government has recently overstretched the concept of national security, abused export controls and long-arm jurisdiction, and maliciously blocked and suppressed China's chip products and the artificial intelligence industry, according to Xinhua.

In the global semiconductor supply chain, countries have long pursued mutual development through cooperation. "Cooperation between China's upstream equipment suppliers and downstream manufacturers in the chip sector has created mutually beneficial conditions for all parties... As a result, collaboration has grown increasingly closer over the years, with all sides benefiting from it," Zhou said.

Global Times