Ryan McMorrow and Eleanor Olcott of the Financial Times report that China has finally said aloud what was once only discussed behind closed doors: the country must rid itself of U.S. chips. They write:
Four government-backed industry associations, representing the bulk of China’s semiconductor demand, issued co-ordinated statements this week urging member companies to rethink purchases of American silicon that three of them deemed as “no longer safe or reliable”.
“Be cautious when purchasing US chips,” the four associations said, urging their members to look for Chinese or other foreign suppliers instead.
The directives came amid the latest tit-for-tat salvo between Beijing and Washington over the foundational technology, an exchange that has laid bare their intensifying competition and added momentum to the development of increasingly separate international supply chains. […]
Chinese equipment makers have already shifted to Japanese and European component suppliers with equivalent products that would not be affected by the export controls, he said. Lin did not expect the key US allies to unveil controls as tough as those from Washington, if they did at all.
“We expect [switching to other non-US suppliers] to continue until local suppliers can catch up,” he said.
Read more here.
