US lifts chip design export curbs as part of new China deal

[HONG KONG] The Trump administration has lifted at least some export license requirements for chip design software sales in China, as Washington and Beijing implement a trade deal designed to see both countries ease flows of critical technologies.

The US Commerce Department has informed one of the world’s leading chip design software providers, Germany’s Siemens, that requirements to seek government licenses for business in China are no longer in place, according to a company statement.

Trump officials originally imposed those export controls in May, as part of a raft of measures responding to China’s limits on shipments of essential rare-earth minerals. Under a trade agreement finalised last week, Washington promised to allow shipments of chip-design software as well as ethane and jet engines to China, provided Beijing honour its pledge to speed approval of critical mineral exports.

Siemens has restored full access to its software and technology for its Chinese customers, the company said. The other two top providers of electronic design automation, or EDA, software – Cadence Design Systems and Synopsys – did not immediately respond to requests for comment about whether they have received similar communications. The Commerce Department also did not immediately respond.

The brief crackdown on EDA sales to China marked an escalation in Washington’s years-long campaign to rein in Beijing’s semiconductor and artificial intelligence ambitions, adding to earlier restrictions on advanced chips and the equipment used to manufacture them.

Software from Cadence and Synopsys is used to design everything from the highest-end processors for the likes of Nvidia and Apple to simple parts such as power-regulation components. BLOOMBERG