The Biden administration is taking into account concerns raised by Republican Senator Marco Rubio regarding Chinese chip designer Brite Semiconductor as part of its decision-making process regarding trade sanctions, the Commerce Department announced.
Rubio had urged the agency to impose sanctions on Brite after a Reuters report revealed its partial ownership by blacklisted Chinese chipmaker SMIC and its provision of chip design services to several Chinese military suppliers. The company, based in Shanghai, reportedly received financial support from American sources and had access to advanced U.S. chip design software.
In response to Rubio’s concerns, the Commerce Department indicated that it would consider them in evaluating potential additions to the Entity List, a trade sanction list that includes SMIC.
Rubio welcomed the department’s response but urged for more decisive actions, emphasizing the need for swift measures to address the situation.
The Chinese embassy in Washington expressed opposition to what it viewed as the U.S. overextending the concept of national security and implementing discriminatory practices against Chinese companies. It called for a fair and non-discriminatory business environment for Chinese firms.
Both Brite and SMIC did not provide immediate comments on the matter.
The announcement coincided with Brite’s debut on the Shanghai stock exchange, where its shares surged 171% on the first day of trading.
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