US 'wont tolerate' China's ban on Micron chips: Commerce Secretary
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At a news conference after a meeting of trade ministers in the US-led Indo-Pacific Economic Framework, the US communicated Washington's firm opposition to China's ban on Micron.
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US Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo, March 1, 2020 (AP)
US Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo said the United States won't be tolerating the ban imposed by China on Micron chips and will work closely with allies to counteract it.
"[The ban] targets a single U.S. company without any basis in fact, and we see it as plain and simple economic coercion and we won't tolerate it, nor do we think it will be successful," the Secretary said at a news conference after a meeting of trade ministers in the US-led Indo-Pacific Economic Framework.
The move came a day after the G7 leaders agreed to new initiatives to push back against what they dubbed China's "economic coercion".
"As we said at the G-7 and as we have said consistently, we are closely engaging with partners addressing this specific challenge and all challenges related to China's nonmarket practices," Raimondo said.
She added that the IPEF agreement on supply chains and other pillars of the talks would be consistent with US investments in the $52 billion CHIPS Act to foster semiconductor production in the United States.
"The investments in the CHIPS Act are to strengthen and bolster our domestic production of semiconductors. Having said that, we welcome participation from companies that are in IPEF countries, you know, so we expect that companies from Japan, Korea, Singapore, etc, will participate in the CHIPS Act funding," Raimondo said.
Read more: US losing to China in semiconductor race: Expert
Earlier this week, Chinese authorities banned critical infrastructure operators from buying chips manufactured by US tech giant: Micron; after it was inferred that banning Micron chips is necessary to ensure national cybersecurity, Chinese Foreign Ministry Spokesperson Mao Ning announced.
As per China, the US company failed its network security review, thus prompting the Asian country to block operators of key infrastructure from buying from the company.
Moreover, Micron was assessed to pose a risk to Beijing's security by the Cyberspace Administration of China, which emphasized that international companies are free to operate in China as long as they abide by the law.
Read more: US tech companies prohibited from building facilities in China
