US places Chinese chipmakers on trade blacklist

The US Commerce Department placed 36 Chinese companies including top producers of advanced computer chips on its "entity list" Thursday, severely restricting their access to any US technology.

The move, which included semiconductor makers Cambricon and Yangtze Memory Technologies, aimed to limit China's "efforts to obtain and leverage advanced technologies including artificial intelligence for its military modernization efforts and human rights violations," the Commerce Department said.

The action makes it nearly impossible for any of those on the blacklist to legally acquire directly or indirectly US semiconductor manufacturing technology, designs and other intellectual property, hampering their production potential.

Of the 36 names, 21 are identified as major firms involved in the research and design, marketing and sales of artificial intelligence chips with close ties to the Chinese defense sector.

Seven are linked to the Chinese military's efforts to develop hypersonic and ballistic missile systems.

One of the companies, Tianjin Tiandi Weiye Technologies, was placed on the Entity List for its alleged role in "China's campaign of repression, mass arbitrary detention, and high-technology surveillance" against Uyghurs and other minorities in the western Xinjiang region.

The Entity List additions Thursday "further the Biden Administration's efforts to deny the PRC access to advanced technologies for military modernization and human rights abuses," Assistant Secretary of Commerce Thea Rozman Kendler said in a statement.