Chip war intensifies: Lawmakers want US to 'blacklist' Chinese firm after Micron ban
US China
In a move that will further inflame relations between the two nations, lawmakers in the United States have called for retaliation against China for banning memory chipmaker Micron Technology.
US Representative Mike Gallagher, who chairs a Congressional committee focusing on China, has proposed adding Changxin Memory technologies to a "blacklist" that would prevent it from doing business with American companies.
His colleague Michael McCaul, who is the chairman of the House Foreign Affairs Committee, also slammed Beijing and called for a response. Bloomberg quoted McCaul as saying, "I urge the administration to use the many authorities Congress has given it to hold the CCP accountable."
The chips that power most technical developments, from artificial intelligence to self-driving vehicles, are produced by Changxin Memory, one of a handful of significant Chinese enterprises that reflect Beijing's ambitions to equal the US in terms of technology.
Moreover, the Chinese chipmaker wants to create history by launching an initial public offering in its home market this year, with a potential valuation of more than $14.5 billion.
The US lawmaker's proposal was in response to Beijing's decision to prevent Micron from supplying China's key infrastructure for reasons of national security.
China's move was an unprecedented step that has already sparked charges of overreach. Tensions over technology have been rising amid dueling claims of "economic coercion" since the US put broad export restrictions on semiconductor equipment to china.
On Wednesday, Mao Ning, a spokesperson for China's foreign ministry, defended the government's decision to withdraw from Micron.
"The cybersecurity review on micron's products sold in China is carried out according to China's laws, and the decision was made based on facts," Bloomberg quoted her as saying.
Ning added that the United States has placed dozens of Chinese businesses and individuals "into all kinds of lists and imposed all kinds of restrictions" without providing any evidence to support their inclusion.