California Democratic lawmakers have sent an open letter to the Biden administration urging a pause on any plans to impose additional sanctions on China. The politicians, who are supporters of the US president, say unilateral sanctions could hurt domestic tech companies.
The US has been restricting technology exports to China for years, in various ways. So the recent call from California lawmakers is not about sanctions already imposed, but rather about pausing further restrictions. Furthermore, the main concern is about “unilateral” sanctions, emphasizing that other countries are not imposing such radical rules, so their tech companies may have an advantage.
“We urge you to pause additional unilateral export controls until you have adequately justified that such controls will not harm U.S. competitiveness in advanced semiconductors and semiconductor manufacturing equipment.”
The letter was authored by Reps. Alex Padilla and Zoe Lofgren. They added that additional unilateral controls could send U.S. tech companies into a “death spiral.”
The letter comes in response to rumors that the Biden administration is preparing to announce new trade restrictions against China. These additional sanctions, however, would not have been combined with the Netherlands and Japan, allies that the US has had difficulty convincing to fully participate in its blockade.
California feels the brunt of sanctions against China
California is considered a “Democratic state,” in the sense that most of its elected officials are from Joe Biden’s party. However, it is one of the regions most concerned about sanctions against China, as it is home to some of the largest semiconductor equipment manufacturers in the US.
That is, Applied Materials, LAM and KLA are among the companies that Padilla and Lofgren fear will be sent into a “death spiral.”
More on the subject:
They emphasize in their letter that they do not want restrictions already imposed to be undone, but that future ones be aligned with allies. “We urge you to use all forms of leverage available to the U.S. government to bring our allies along in aligning their export controls with ours.”
Source: Reuters
Join the Adrenaline Offers Group
Check out the best deals on hardware, components and other electronics that we found online. Video cards, motherboards, RAM and everything you need to build your PC. By joining our group, you receive daily promotions and have early access to discount coupons.
Join the group and enjoy the promotions
Source: https://www.adrenaline.com.br/tech/politicos-dos-eua-temem-que-mais-sancoes-a-china-podem-matar-empresas-nacionais/
