The United States is considering blacklisting a number of Chinese semiconductor firms linked to Huawei Technologies Co, which are allegedly backed by significant government financing to establish chip fabrication facilities under various guises. This initiative is perceived as an effort to bypass US sanctions levied against Huawei over national security apprehensions. By operating under different business identities, Huawei might seek to elude US export regulations limiting the transfer of sophisticated technologies to the company. The Bureau of Industry and Security within the US Commerce Department is closely following Huawei's actions and those of related entities engaged in comparable endeavours.

Apart from weighing the possibility of embargoing companies such as Qingdao Si'En, SwaySure, and Shenzhen Pensun Technology Co., Bloomberg reported that the US government may also extend the sanction measures to memory chip-maker ChangXin Memory Technologies Inc.

Why does this matter?

China's technology progress in semiconductor chips has raised alarm bells in Washington DC. In a bid to restrain the Asian giant's advances in technology, particularly for military purposes, the US Commerce Department's Bureau of Industry and Security is seeking to restrict access to US technology for Chinese firms.