The supply licenses were withdrawn, Michael McCaul, chairman of the Foreign Affairs Committee in the US House of Representative told Bloomberg.
This comes following the launch of Huawei’s first AI-enabled laptop, the MateBook X Pro, which is powered by Intel’s new Core Ultra 9 processor.
The laptop drew criticism from Republicans, who said it suggested the US Department of Commerce had given the green light to Intel to sell the chip to Huawei.
“We have revoked certain licenses for exports to Huawei,” the Commerce Department said in a statement.
“This action will bolster US national security, protect American ingenuity, and diminish Communist China’s ability to advance its technology,” Republican Congresswoman Elise Stefanik said in a separate statement.
Huawei was placed on the US trade restrictions list in 2019 and was forced to pivot its business operations as a result.
Domestic investment
The move comes as the US aims to bolster its domestic chipset production, announcing US$8.5 billion in direct funding and $11 billion in loans for chip plants in Arizona, Ohio, New Mexico and Oregon.
Ben Langstreth, senior account manager at Vesper Technologies believes that there are a limited number of firms that can manufacture semiconductors at scale – and TSMC is the “biggest and best” there is.
“By funnelling money into this sector and acquiring much-needed hands-on experience from TSMC, it’s likely we’re going to see the market become more stable for the US. The last few years have shown us the difficulty of relying entirely on global supply chains when it comes to accessing resources.
“Semiconductor chips are a critical part of modern technology, and by bringing production onto US soil, I imagine the hope is to stabilise the supply in the US and take back a degree of control from China.”
Langstreth says that the US investment into TSMC puts the country on a path to chip leadership.
“There’s a strategy at play here to bring the manufacturing back onto US soil and move away from some of the risks of instability in Taiwan.
It’s also a good step in terms of future development, he believes. By investing the money now, Langstreth expects to see positive returns over the next 10 years in terms of research and innovation.
“This marks the third plant the US is set to build following the 2022 Chips Act. It’s a good indicator that the US is serious in its intentions to push the semiconductor industry forward, and new innovations are likely to follow.”
