The current US President, Donald Trump, is spending the last days in office. Therefore, he has got some unfinished business to do. Trump simply cannot leave the White House without bidding his last goodbye to China. Therefore, recently, his administration has introduced new sanctions against Chinese companies.
Trump is well-known for his anti-China rhetoric and even at the end of his tenure, he has refused to soften trade relations with the country. New sanctions targeted several dozen Chinese manufacturers that had been blacklisted, including the largest chip manufacturer, Semiconductor Manufacturing International Corp. In total, the US imposed sanctions on 255 companies and branches from key industries for the Chinese economy.
Most of them are one way or another connected to the country's military forces, while the rest use child labor or somehow violate human rights. China’s telecommunication equipment giants such as Huawei Technologies, ZTE, and surveillance camera manufacturer Hikvision were also included in the blacklist. However, fresh sanctions are likely to deliver the severest blow to SMIC.
Experts are sure that SMIC may face rather unpleasant consequences. For example, it will have to request a special license from the US Department of Commerce so that the country's suppliers will be allowed to send it the necessary equipment. By imposing tough sanctions, Trump is trying to restrict Chinese firms' access to advanced American chip-making technology.
