The Biden administration plans to spare SK Hynix and Samsung from the brunt of new restrictions on DRAM and flash memory chip makers in China, aimed at thwarting Beijing's technological ambitions and blocking its military advances, sources said.
The Commerce Department plans to issue new restrictions on exports of technology to China this week, but it will likely deny requests from US suppliers to send equipment to Chinese firms like ChangXin Memory Technologies, Inc. CXMT and Yangtze Memory Technologies Co Ltd YMTC, if they are making advanced DRAM or flash memory chips, the sources said.
Sources said that license requests to sell equipment to foreign companies that make advanced memory chips in China will be reviewed on a case by case basis, which could allow them to receive the equipment.
One person briefed on the matter said that the goal is not to hurt non-indigenous companies.
The White House and Commerce Department doesn't want to make a statement. SK Hynix, Samsung, YMTC, and CXMT did not respond to requests for comment.
The Chinese Embassy in Washington described the expected rules as a sci-tech hegemony. It accused the United States of using its technological prowess to hobble and suppress the development of emerging markets and developing countries. Details of the new regulations facing China-based memory chip makers have not been previously reported.
Under the new regulations, U.S. suppliers seeking to ship equipment to China-based semiconductor firms would not have to seek a license from the Commerce Department if they sell to firms producing DRAM chips above the 18 nanometer node, NAND Flash chips below 128 layers or logic chips above 14 nanometers, the sources said.
U.S. companies selling sophisticated technology to Chinese chipmakers producing DRAM chips at 18 nanometers or below, NAND flash chips at or above 128 layers or logic chips at or under 14 nanometers would have to apply for a license that would be reviewed with the tough presumption of denial standard.
The license requirement for non-Chinese companies operating in China and producing those same types of chips would also be faced, but applications would be reviewed on a case-by-case basis, according to the sources.