According to Bloomberg, the administration of current U.S. President Joe Biden is launching an investigation that will provide the next U.S. President Trump with a choice whether to impose new tariffs on semiconductor chips made in China.
Photo source: White House, on December 23, the Biden administration announced that it would launch an investigation into so-called basic chips (also known as traditional or mature node semiconductors) made in China.
Although basic chip technology is not as advanced as chips driven by artificial intelligence, it is widely used in automobiles, aircraft, medical equipment and telecommunications industries. U.S. officials said that if we rely too much on China’s chip supply chain, the chip industry may pose a national security risk to the United States. U.S. Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo said: “We need to build a flexible chip supply chain because during the COVID-19 epidemic, it is difficult for us to get the chips we want.
” She added that the United States ‘reliance on overseas chip suppliers disrupted production lines and pushed up the cost of household goods.
Gina Raimondo and other U.S. officials pointed out that “because China wants to dominate the global chip market and subsidizes China’s chip industry, the U.S. investigation of China’s basic chips is a necessary condition for legal action.
” The Biden administration will launch a Section 301 investigation into China semiconductors.
The U.S. Trade Representative will use the results of the investigation to determine whether China’s actions are “unreasonable” or “discriminatory” and whether they have caused a burden on U.S. trade.
If this is the case, a future U.S. government may impose counter-tariffs, take measures such as restricting imports, or recommend further action by the U.S. President and the U.S. Congress.
, The semiconductor investigation could take months to reach a conclusion, when the Trump administration will decide whether and what measures need to be taken.
In addition, the Trump administration plans to impose extensive tariffs on products imported from China.
Trump said he would nominate Jamieson Greer as U.S. Trade Representative to replace Katherine Tai.
The Biden administration has taken actions to support the U.S. semiconductor industry, such as implementing the Chip and Science Act and restricting exports of advanced chip technology to China. U.S. officials worry that China may tighten control over the chip industry by monopolizing the market with more traditional and easily available chips.
In May this year, the Biden administration also announced that it would increase tariffs on China’s traditional semiconductors from the current 25% to 50% by 2025.
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