US Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo testifies during a Senate Appropriations Committee hearing titled “A Review of the President’s Fiscal Year 2024 Budget Request: Investing in America’s Security and Competitiveness.” , and the way forward for the U.S.-China relationship” on Capitol Hill in Washington, U.S., May 16, 2023. REUTERS/Elizabeth Frantz
WASHINGTON – Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo said Wednesday that the Biden administration is trying to carefully target US controls on exports to China, but the rules will cost companies some revenue.
The restrictions should not be so broad “that they deny US companies revenue and China can get the product elsewhere, or China can get the product from other countries,” Raimondo said in a forum. The rules “will deny some revenue to American companies, but we think it’s worth it.”
Last week, executives from the US chip company met with top Biden administration officials, including Raimondo, to discuss China policy as the most powerful semiconductor lobby group urged to stop further restrictions into consideration.
READ: US targets China over semiconductors
Raimondo said the administration is meeting with businesses “to get to the right place so that we don’t hurt American business but, frankly, protect American national security.”
Last year, China accounted for $180 billion in semiconductor purchases, about a third of the world’s total of $574.1 billion and the largest single market, according to the Semiconductor Industry Association.
Nvidia, Qualcomm and Intel have crucial sales in China. Qualcomm is the only company licensed by US regulators to sell mobile phone chips to Huawei.
READ: China to restrict exports of chip-making materials as US weighs new restrictions
The Biden administration is considering updating a sweeping set of rules imposed in October to hamper China’s chip industry and a new executive order restricting some outbound investment.
“This is not about reining in China or denying them commodity technology,” Raimondo said. China wants access to the most sophisticated technology from the United States “to advance its military and we are not going to allow that,” he said.
The “schedule is as fast as we can and we make sure it is correct,” he added.
Raimondo, Secretary of State Antony Blinken, National Economic Council Director Lael Brainard and National Security Council Director Jake Sullivan were among government officials who met with Intel, Qualcomm and Nvidia last week, according to a source familiar with the meetings.
READ: Why are the US and China fighting over chips?
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