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A tale (from 3)
The October 7 sanctions join a long list of
export/import controls from the U.S. Com-
merce Dept. during the past several presi-
dential administrations.
Two countries
The latest controls truly represent a tale of
two countries: The U.S., which is the larg-
est seller of semiconductors, and China,
which is the smallest but dreams of domi-
nance in these products.
With
With headquarters in Fremont, Calif., Lam Research, one of the largest U.S. makers
of front-end semiconductor equipment, has five U.S. manufacturing sites, includ-
ing this one in Tualatin, Oregon. (Lam Research)
In November at the G20 meeting , Presi-
dent Joseph R. Biden met with China’s
president-for-life Xi Jinping in Bali, In-
donesia. According to press reports, the
subject of the October 7 controls was not
discussed.
Security of Taiwan
The security of Taiwan, however, appears
to have been a top-of-mind issue for
Biden.
The White House said, “On Taiwan, [Biden]
laid out in detail that our one China policy
has not changed, the United States op-
poses any unilateral changes to the status
quo by either side, and the world has an
interest in the maintenance of peace and
stability in the Taiwan Strait.”
Lawrence Wong, Singapore’s deputy prime
DECEMBER 2022
minister, told Bloomberg News that the
meeting between the two superpowers
was just “the start of a long journey.”
Massive investments
According to Statista, in 2020, the U.S.
sold 47% of the world’s semiconductors;
South Korea was second with 20%, and
Japan and the European Union accounted
for 10%. China was at the bottom with
1%.
A 2019 report from the Center for New
American Security (cnas.org), a bipartisan,
independent think tank, notes that while
China has made vast strides in science
and technology, it is still dependent on the
West — particularly for semiconductors.
China, observes the CNAS report, suspects
that western semiconductors contain back-
doors that can be exploited for intelligence
and military purposes.
China’s hidden danger
In 2016, President Xi reportedly said, “The
fact that core technology is controlled by
others is our greatest hidden danger.”
In 2014, China’s State Council said its goal
is to become the world leader in all semi-
conductor segments, CNAS reported.
China’s manufacturing sector is working
under the national strategic plan “Made in
China 2025”
The plan calls for increasing the Chinese
omestic content of core materials to 40
percent by 2020 and 70 percent by 2025.
The country has made substantial invest-
ments in technology, including $118 billion
for the semiconductor segment over five
years, including $60 billion from provincial
and municipal governments.
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