The United States and China open a technological war in which they seek to lead the technological development above the other. This time the origin is found in the chips, these microprocessors that are part of our day to day without almost realizing it. Chips allow our mobile devices or our computer equipment to work, our household appliances to work or, in short, make our lives easier.
The United States has stepped forward in this war and it has made things more difficult for the Chinese semiconductor industry. The US government is clear about the premise, to prevent China from developing them above them. The war is served.
chip production
Today the manufacture of these mechanisms is carried out by companies spread all over the worldSome are in high demand, such as TSMC, the Taiwanese company that controls the production of 90% of high-end chips. Now, given the interest to control the technology sector, the United States and China are facing a battle to control their creation.
Both countries are aware of that life revolves around these chips of the latest generation, something that would position them in a privileged place. The pandemic produced a scenario of scarcity of these microprocessors, so in response to their demand, the US government has declared its intention to attract their manufacture to the country.
the technological war
The war between the United States and China is affecting the production of semiconductor supplies worldwide, a fact for which the American country has decided address restrictions imposed on Chinese server maker Inspur Group, allowing US companies to continue supplying Inspur subsidiaries.
The Biden government has established a trade block list which include a set of companies to which US chipmakers cannot sell products without licences. The US Department of Commerce works with Inspur affiliates that continue to operate at ease. So much so that companies like Intel, Nvidia or Cisco can continue to trade with Inspur without the need for a license.
The blacklist includes a group of companies that according to the United States Department of Commerce allow “contributing to Russia’s military and defense industrial base, supporting the military modernization of the People’s Republic of China, and facilitating or participating in human rights abuses.” in Burma and the People’s Republic of China (PRC)”.
The war between the United States and China expands
Within the war waged by both world powers, the consequences They have reached many other countries that, far from being immersed in it, have been forced to position themselves. The United States carried out a job of convincing two of its main partners, Holland and Japanand thus unseat China.
In this sense, the National Security Adviser of the United States, Jake Sullivan, has stated that the country has already conversations with your partners to limit the sale of photolithographic equipment needed for chip manufacturing to China. The United States knows very well who it allies with, and it is that currently the dutch ASML is the only company in the world capable of fine-tuning extreme ultraviolet lithography machines.
But the ties that the United States seeks to establish are not limited to the Netherlands. The German ZEISS is in charge of producing the optical elements required by this equipment and the reflective mirrors that transport light from the emitting source to the mask, it also manufactures the sensors and actuators in charge of ensuring that the work of the optical equipment of the lithographic machines is adapted to the required tolerances.
In this situation, Japan is also involved, and it is that although the companies Canon and Nikon have already withdrawn from the race with ASML, the country continues to have a lot to say. The truth is that many of the equipment that coexist with the ASML machines in the factories are of Japanese production.
The reality is that although the war is being waged between the United States and China, the shock wave is very powerful since other necessary elements that are distributed throughout the world come into play in the production of semiconductors. The consequences of this war can affect us all, and it is that if the supply chain is stopped the production of many of our day-to-day products may be affected.
