WASHINGTON, Dec 16 (Reuters) - The Biden administration
still has not decided whether to block more sales of U.S.
technology to Chinese chipmaker SMIC, but raised the
possibility of discussing with allies further restrictions on
selling chip-making equipment to China, sources familiar with a
Thursday meeting on the topic said.
Officials at the meeting of deputies from various U.S.
agencies talked about a proposal to toughen sales to SMIC and
other chipmakers in China, the sources said. The officials
appeared to agree that the U.S. should work with friendly
countries on a more restrictive policy, one source said.
A spokesperson for the White House declined to comment.
The Trump administration placed Semiconductor Manufacturing
International Corp (SMIC) on the U.S. Department of Commerce's
trade blacklist late last year over concerns of SMIC's aiding
China's military.
The listing, which requires U.S. suppliers to obtain a
license before shipping chipmaking equipment and other goods,
allows most sales to be decided on a case-by-case basis.
However, equipment that can be used to make only the most
advanced, 10-nanometer and smaller chips is held to a higher
standard and is likely to be denied.
The policy change being considered would restrict sales of
items that could also be used for less advanced chips.
However, chip equipment makers argue that if SMIC is not
supplied by U.S. equipment makers, the company will buy from
other countries.
Reuters has reported that export license requests for SMIC
were already slow to get approval.
(Reporting by Karen Freifeld; Editing by Christopher Cushing,
Chris Sanders and Leslie Adler)