According to foreign media reports, the US government started Huawei not only because of its so-called "spy conspiracy theory", but also because Huawei is a global leader in 5G, representing China's rise in technology and economy, and Trump Displeased. "The Economist" pointed out that the US government has continued to use political means to suppress and try to de-sinization of the semiconductor industry, but may accelerate the de-Americanization of the industry.
US Attorney General William Barr has warned that if the United States cannot weaken Huawei's "dominance in 5G," there is a risk of "giving up its dominant position to China." As a result, the United States added Huawei and its subsidiaries to the list of entities last year in an attempt to restrict Huawei's development. However, due to the lack of expected sanctions, the US government announced on May 15 that it will expand the scope of control. As long as US chip manufacturing equipment or technology is used, a license will be required when exporting to Huawei.
However, the new rules may not achieve their goals at all. Some lawyers pointed out that the new restrictions do not seem to apply to products shipped to third parties or shipped to Huawei. It is understood that the chips manufactured by TSMC for Huawei are usually shipped to Huawei's mobile phone assembly plants and foundries, and then the finished products will be sent directly to Huawei's customers. In other words, Huawei does not need to touch these blacklisted chips at any time.
"The Economist" pointed out that even if the legal experts are wrong, this new rule will be difficult to implement because the clean room of the chip manufacturing plant is difficult to monitor. More importantly, the semiconductor industry with a scale of up to 412 billion US dollars is so highly globalized that even the "long arm" of US law can hardly limit it. The more likely result is that the new export controls will allow some US chip manufacturing to leave the United States.
It is worth mentioning that for the big customer Huawei being sanctioned, TSMC plans to build a factory in the United States. The Economist pointed out that the latter may be pleasing the US government and hopes to avoid imposing sanctions on more mainland customers. However, observers have given another possibility that TSMC may send the US equipment of its existing factory to the Arizona chip manufacturing plant to make room for its business in Taiwan, China, and produce brand new non-US equipment. , Serving customers in mainland China.
Even if this is not the original intention of TSMC, the solution will definitely surge. The report pointed out that the new rules may prompt Samsung's Xi'an memory plant to be equipped with production equipment that will not conflict with geopolitics between China and the United States.
At the same time, a person with a close relationship with a U.S. tool manufacturer said that some U.S. tool manufacturers are considering transferring their patents abroad in order to rebuild their business outside the U.S. jurisdiction to circumvent current and future anti-China restrictions . It can be said that Trump's attempt to de-Chineseize the semiconductor industry may instead accelerate the de-Americanization.