The US Department of Commerce was set to impose sanctions on Chinese memory chipmaker Changxin Memory Technologies (CXMT) after Beijing imposed restrictive measures on US Micron. This was stated by the chairman of the China Committee in the US House of Representatives Mike Gallagher (Mike Gallagher), writes Reuters.
Image source: cxmt.com
White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre said China’s tough stance on Micron “not based on facts”. The US Presidential Administration also reported that the Department of Commerce has reached out to them “direct interaction” with China on Micron, a maker of memory chips used in products ranging from smartphones to data center servers.
Congressman Mike Gallagher is the only lawmaker so far to call for retaliation, saying China must be made clear that the U.S “will not tolerate commercial coercion against its companies or allies”. In this regard, the Department of Commerce should “Immediately sanction Changxin Memory Technologies and ensure that no American technology, regardless of specification, is transferred to CXMT, YMTC or any other company in the PRC engaged in this industry.”.
YMTC landed on the US sanctions list last December. CXMT is a leading Chinese maker of DRAM memory chips and a competitor to Micron that stands to benefit from sanctions against the US company. According to Mr. Gallagher, the export licenses Washington has granted to foreign memory manufacturers operating in China should not be used to replace Beijing’s Micron products and South Korean brands – meaning Samsung Electronics and SK Hynix. According to analysts, CXMT products are two to three generations behind chips from industry leaders Micron, Samsung and SK Hynix.
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