Stephen Nellis
(Reuters) – U.S. export controls on advanced computer chips sent to China are not intended to curb China’s economy or technological development, Secretary of State Antony Blinken said in an interview with National Public Radio on Friday.
Starting in 2022, U.S. officials imposed tight controls on computer chip exports to China, halting some sales to Nvidia (NASDAQ:), Advanced Micro Devices (NASDAQ:) and Intel (NASDAQ:), among others. These controls follow earlier bans on the supply of chips to Huawei Technologies.
But US officials have granted at least two US companies – Intel and Qualcomm (NASDAQ:) – licenses to continue supplying chips to Huawei, which uses Intel chips to power a new laptop model. Two Republican lawmakers criticized Intel’s tax exemption earlier this week, but in an interview with NPR, Blinken stressed that the device is a sign that the U.S. is not trying to interfere with China.
“I saw that Huawei just released a new laptop that they boasted was AI-enabled and used an Intel chip,” Blinken told NPR host Steve Inskeep during a visit to Beijing. “I think this demonstrates that we are only focusing on the most sensitive technologies that could pose a threat to our security. We are not focused on stopping trade or, for that matter, containing or containing China.”
Intel and Qualcomm’s licenses to sell Huawei products were issued under President Donald Trump’s administration and have remained in place under President Joe Biden. Those companies’ direct competitors, AMD and MediaTek, did not receive similar exemptions, and neither the Trump nor Biden administration explained why.
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(This story has been rewritten to correct Antony Blinken’s name in paragraph 4)