US imposes sanctions on Chinese chip maker SMIC

The United States has made it more difficult for SMIC to do business with American companies. The sanctions have been imposed because, according to the US, there may be links with the Chinese military.

That reports Reuters news agency. In response, SMIC has indicated that it has not been officially informed of the sanctions imposed by the US authorities. According to Reuters, the US Department of Commerce has decided that companies that work with SMIC must apply for an export license, something that is very difficult to obtain in practice. As a result, it seems that SMIC cannot do business with American companies for the time being.

The sanctions have been imposed because the Americans suspect that SMIC has links with the Chinese army. However, the chip manufacturer denies that these bands exist, and states that the chips are only made for civil use.

Huawei, also a Chinese company that has been hit by US sanctions, switched to SMIC earlier this year with subsidiary HiSilicon for the supply of 14nm chips. That switch would have been made because of the political situation in the United States. Whether the American sanctions will affect the production of chips is still unclear.