US Department of Commerce Orders China to Halt Exports of Semiconductor Equipment Below 14nm

Semiconductor manufacturing plant [Image source=Yonhap News]

[Asia Economy Reporter Jeong Dong-hoon] Major foreign media reported that the U.S. government has strengthened export control measures on domestically produced cutting-edge semiconductor manufacturing equipment to China.

According to major foreign media on the 29th (local time), in the past two weeks, the U.S. Department of Commerce sent official letters to all semiconductor equipment companies within the country, instructing them not to export equipment applying manufacturing technology finer than the 14-nanometer (nm; one billionth of a meter) process to China.

Tim Archer, CEO of global semiconductor manufacturing equipment company Lam Research, recently stated during a conference call with analysts, "We have been notified that the government's export restriction measures have been expanded," adding, "The notice instructs not to export semiconductor equipment applying manufacturing technology finer than the 14-nanometer process to China."

Rick Wallace, CEO of another major U.S. semiconductor equipment company KLA, also revealed that the government informed them of the same export restriction measures.

Previously, the U.S. government restricted exports of semiconductor equipment applying processes finer than '10 nanometers' to China's key semiconductor company SMIC (中芯國際; Zhongxin Guoji) without permission.

Terms like 10 nanometers and 14 nanometers refer to the width (line width) of the circuits through which electrical signals pass in semiconductors, indicating the level of technology. The narrower the line width, the finer the process, enabling the production of semiconductors with better performance.

The fact that the U.S. government, which previously restricted exports only for technologies superior to the 10-nanometer process, has changed this threshold to 14 nanometers can be interpreted as an increased effort to hinder China's advancement in cutting-edge technology.

If advanced semiconductors cannot be manufactured independently, the development of future growth industries such as next-generation communications, robotics, and artificial intelligence will inevitably slow down. Earlier, the U.S. government also requested companies like the Netherlands' ASML Holding NV and Japan's Nikon to restrict exports of equipment destined for China.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.