Congress Questions Addressing Chinese Chip Companies Not on Blacklist

Export Controls on Chinese Chip Companies

• 💡 Rep. Bill Huizenga questions why the US continues to allow unrestricted sales of subcomponents to China, especially when these are made by US or allied companies, while export controls are in place for chip manufacturing equipment.
• 🎯 Mr. Ball agrees that highly specialized subcomponents critical for chipmaking should also be export controlled in coordination with allies, differentiating them from general industrial subcomponents.

The Entity List and Allied Cooperation

• 🔑 Mr. Wolf notes that the Biden administration added many, but not all, Chinese chip tool companies to the entity list, suggesting that unlisted companies may also engage in similar activities.
• 🤝 He emphasizes the need for multilateral cooperation with allies, particularly a smaller group of producer nations (like the "consensus minus one"), to control chip components and sanction remaining Chinese companies.

High Bandwidth Memory (HBM) as a Choke Point

• 🧠 Mr. Maguire explains that High Bandwidth Memory (HBM) is crucial, very fast memory almost exclusively used in high-end AI chips for training and operation, and is primarily made in Korea by allied firms.
• ⚠️ He identifies CXMT and YMTC (and its subsidiary XMC) as key Chinese companies involved in HBM production that are not fully restricted, recommending countrywide restrictions on tools necessary for HBM production.
• 📈 Restricting HBM production is seen as a significant choke point, as China may struggle to produce advanced AI chips even if they can manufacture logic dies, due to the inability to couple them with memory.

Servicing and Maintenance of Chipmaking Tools

• 🛠️ Mr. Maguire highlights the critical need for constant maintenance and servicing of complex semiconductor manufacturing tools, especially lithography machines, which require specialized expertise (e.g., from ASML).
• 🚫 He points out a gap where the US has restricted its companies from servicing advanced Chinese fabs, but the Dutch have not fully done so for ASML, suggesting this is a key area to address.
• 🌍 Mr. Huizenga raises the question of how to prevent US allies from servicing equipment already in China, to which Mr. Maguire suggests using extraterritorial US controls to stop such servicing.