US targets China with probe into semiconductor industry

The White House on Monday launched a new probe into China's semiconductor industry as the Biden administration continues to take more aggressive action against Chinese technology out of national security and trade concerns.

In a fact sheet, the White House said China "routinely engages in non-market policies and practices, as well as industrial targeting, of the semiconductor industry" that harms competition and creates "dangerous supply chain dependencies."

The Biden administration said the Office of the United States Trade Representative would launch a Section 301 investigation to examine China's targeting of semiconductor chips for dominance, an effort to see whether the practices are unfairly hurting U.S. trade and take potential action.

The investigation will broadly probe Chinese nonmarket practices and policies related to semiconductors and look at how the products are incorporated into industries for defense, auto, aerospace, medical, telecommunications and power.

It will also examine production of silicon carbide substrates or other wafers used as inputs for semiconductors.

The White House is taking a broad sweep to protect its sourcing of semiconductor chips, a critical technology that powers smart devices: restricting agencies from obtaining certain products from Chinese entities and working with like-minded allies to secure a safer supply chain for the tech.

President Biden is also bolstering U.S. semiconductor chip production and signed into law the 2022 CHIPS and Science Act to support the domestic industry.

Earlier this month, Biden also placed more than 100 Chinese chipmaking tool manufacturer companies on a restricted trading list, the latest use of export controls to blunt Beijing in the industry.

The move also blocked the sale of certain chips for artificial intelligence, and U.S. officials have warned that China's acquisition of advanced chips poses a national security risk.

Biden has also taken aim at other Chinese industries, in one example doubling tariffs earlier this month on solar panel components from China.