CTT Newsletter

WSJ: “Blacklisted Chinese Chip Maker Does A Thriving Business With U.S.” Just days before the first anniversary of sweeping new export controls announced by the Biden Administration, a Wall Street Journal story on blacklisted Semiconductor Manufacturing International Corp (SMIC)’s “thriving business” with the U.S. raises questions if the restrictions are “tough enough.” The story features SMIC’s $1.5 billion in 2022 revenue from American semiconductor-design companies and why members of Congress argue that allowing SMIC access to American technology could give China’s military capabilities to fight the U.S. and its allies. The story quotes from a new report by China technology analyst James Mulvenon, who authored the 2020 report that promoted the U.S. to put SMIC on the blacklist: “It is… Read More

A new report co-authored by Coalition for a Prosperous America Chief Economist Jeff Ferry and CTT co-founder Roslyn Layton reveals how American semiconductor equipment manufacturing companies are earning billions from Chinese legacy chip manufacturers. That bad choice is undermining American national and economic security: American semiconductor equipment manufacturers (SEMs) have succeeded in lobbying the U.S. government to permit them to sell some of the world’s most complex technology to Chinese government-aligned firms making legacy chips. As can be documented from public data, American SEMs Applied Materials, KLA, and Lam Research have grown their combined revenues from China by 103% between 2018 and 2022. .kb-image9762_7c4678-fb .kb-image-has-overlay:after{opacity:0.3;} The Department of Commerce’s mission is to foster economic growth, and also to prevent adversaries… Read More

BUT FIRST: Watch our 1 minute video to better understand the CHIPS Act Anniversary and the challenges we are facing. CHIPS Act One-Year Anniversary: August 9 marked the one-year milestone of President Biden signing the CHIPS and Science Act to restore American semiconductor manufacturing, yet major challenges lie ahead. In a new video, Retired Major General James ‘Spider’ Marks explains problems with the U.S. government turning a blind eye to legacy chips as China accelerates efforts to dominate the market. He noted that while the Biden Administration “understand[s] that we need to near-shore, friend-shore, and onshore the production of these semiconductor capabilities… We need an all-of-government approach to every chip matters.” Learn more at EveryChipMatters.com.   Is Your State 1 Of… Read More

Did your state contribute to the more than $285 million states have spent on dangerous PRC-owned technology? The answer can be found in China Tech Threat’s (CTT) new state research and analysis of spending on restricted Lexmark and Lenovo technology that now includes all 50 states. The analysis is being released today as an update to our February 2023 States of Denial vs States of Momentum report on 28 states which showed they have cumulatively spent more than $230 million on Lexmark and Lenovo technology.   Review the full updated report and corresponding interactive maps at www.StopChinaSpending.com. CTT has been tracking this disturbing spending trend dating back to 2020 following a U.S. Department of Defense Inspector General report which revealed continued use of technology from… Read More

New CTT Substack: China Tech Threat (CTT) is now on Substack! Please take a quick moment to subscribe (for free) here to receive our latest posts, research and analysis.Former DOD Export Control Official Tells House Committee Broken Export Control System Practices Willful Blindness. In testimony delivered Thursday before a House Foreign Affairs Subcommittee hearing on BIS and export controls in an era of strategic competition, former DOD export control official and U.S. Army artillery officer Steven Coonen testified that he resigned his post in 2021 over frustrations with the U.S. government’s export control regime. He said the system is marked by ineffectiveness and a willful blindness to how China is legally capturing controlled American technologies. In addition to his testimony,… Read More

Friends,  Today China Tech Threat unveiled a new resource – EveryChipMatters.com – which includes both a quick :30 explainer video for busy people and a 16-page research report for policy experts. China Tech Threat summarizes the problems surrounding a potential Chinese-dominated legacy chip market and provides three solutions to address it. When it comes to semiconductors, the U.S. government has focused almost exclusively on restricting China’s ability to produce advanced chips, while ignoring legacy chips. Recognizing the American retreat, SMIC, China’s top manufacturer, is spending billions to conquer the market, and is likely benefitting from Chinese government subsidies. Consequently, China’s impending monopoly threatens U.S. economic and national security in several ways:             It will force our military and businesses to… Read More

Chinese Military-Aligned Chipmaker YMTC Added To Entity List – At Last. On December 15 – after blowing by a self-imposed December 6 deadline – the U.S. Commerce Department announced that YMTC, a state-backed chip maker with close ties to the People’s Liberation Army (PLA), has been added to the Entity List, along with other Chinese companies. The announcement comes not a day too soon as CTT co-founder Dr. Roslyn Layton said in a statement: “The addition of YMTC, a Chinese military-aligned chip maker, to the Entity List is long-awaited and critical from both national and economic security standpoints. With today’s announcement, the Bureau of Industry and Security (BIS) is putting a long-overdue focus on our national security under the leadership… Read More

CTT Hails Export Control/YMTC Announcement, Calls For Vigilance And Continued Action. On October 7, the Bureau of Industry and Security (BIS) announced long-awaited export controls to restrict the People’s Republic of China’s (PRC’s) ability to purchase and manufacture certain high-end chips used in military applications. BIS also added YMTC to the Unverified List, a likely precursor to landing on the Entity List. China Tech Threat’s Dr. Roslyn Layton said the new controls “signal a new era of enforcement at BIS under the leadership of Alan Estevez, giving national security the consideration it lacked at BIS.” Dr. Layton pushed for vigilance and action, warning that dangerous Chinese military chipmaker Changxin Memory Technologies (CXMT) “is following the same playbook as Huawei and… Read More

New Reports On Apple Deal With Chinese Military Chip Maker Taints iPhone 14 Release. As Apple prepares to unveil its iPhone 14 smartphone at its “Far Out” event today, BusinessKorea add new scrutiny to earlier reports that Apple is compromising American security by shipping devices with chips from the Chinese military chipmaker YMTC. The new reporting suggests that the partnership is laying the foundation for further Apple devices to be outfitted with the suspect circuits. “The move represents a strong win for YMTC and will ensure steady supply of flash memory for Apple’s next-generation products,” reports Tom’s Hardware. For more on the threats this Apple deal with YMTC pose to our national security, read CTT’s report, “Silicon Sellout: How Apple’s… Read More

China Tech Threat Questions Commerce Department’s Export Control Policy. In advance of Bureau of Industry and Security (BIS) Under Secretary Alan Estevez’s July 14 appearance before the U.S. Senate Banking Committee hearing on export controls, China Tech Threat (CTT) issued a memo on BIS’ failure to apply China-related export controls. The memo highlights the potential dissonance between Estevez’s stated long-term priority to “stop [China] from using our technology against us” and Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo’s assertion that “selling a commodity product to a Chinese company is in and of itself not problematic.” ICYMI: During the hearing, Virginia Senator Mark Warner told Estevez he is “really concerned” about YMTC and added that it deserves an investigation and ultimately an Entity List… Read More