U.S. "black hands" reach out to the global chip industry (global hot spot)

  The U.S. government recently used "improving supply chain transparency" as an excuse to require major global chip manufacturers to submit core business data, and even deliberately use the U.S. National Defense Production Act and other national security laws to force companies from other countries to hand over their "hole cards."

  At a time when the global "chip shortage" is intensifying, the United States has used its national power to seize the secrets of the semiconductor supply chain, causing an uproar in the international public opinion.

Experts pointed out that the US move is intended to curb the downward trend of its advanced manufacturing industry, reconstruct the US-led global semiconductor supply chain, and contain the development of Chinese chips and other high-tech industries.

If things go on like this, it will inevitably disrupt the order of the international supply chain and hinder technological innovation and industrial upgrading.

 play hard--

  Forcing trade secrets to coerce to build a factory in the U.S.

  The US Department of Commerce and the White House National Economic Committee convened a meeting of people in the semiconductor industry to discuss supply chain issues on September 23.

On the same day, the US Department of Commerce issued a notice requiring semiconductor supply chain companies to "voluntarily" provide relevant information within 45 days, including 26 core data such as inventory, production capacity, delivery cycle, and customer information.

The information collection objects cover the entire semiconductor supply chain, including semiconductor material and equipment suppliers, chip design and manufacturing companies, distribution intermediaries, and end users.

  According to statistics, TSMC currently accounts for 58% of global high-end chip production capacity, and Samsung accounts for 18%.

The two handed over the data, which means that the global high-end chip order data is exposed to the US government.

"Korean Economic News" pointed out that the disclosure of core information will disclose the company's semiconductor technology level, which may put the company at a disadvantage in the price negotiation process.

According to the Nihon Keizai Shimbun, three cutting-edge semiconductor companies, TSMC, Samsung and Intel, are in fierce competition.

In this case, companies are particularly sensitive to information management.

Non-U.S. companies worry that internal information may flow to Intel, a competitor that has close ties with the U.S. government.

South Korea's "Han Minzu Daily" even published an editorial bluntly saying that the US's requirements have reached a level that infringes South Korea's economic sovereignty, severely undermining mutual trust between the two countries, and will not help the United States seeks to establish a technological alliance.

  In response to external doubts, US Secretary of Commerce Raymondo said that if companies do not pay, they will launch mandatory measures such as the National Defense Production Act.

The bill was approved and promulgated by the US Congress during the Korean War in 1950. It aims to allow the US federal government to directly direct industrial production and reserve wartime supplies during a state of emergency.

  Under pressure from the United States, TSMC, Samsung and other companies finally "softened".

According to data from the US government website, as of November 8, more than 70 companies have submitted information about the semiconductor supply chain to the US Department of Commerce, including Amazon, Cisco, Micron Technology, TSMC, UMC, South Korea’s SK Hynix, and Japan’s Sony Well-known manufacturers such as semiconductor solutions.

  In addition to the strong demand for data, the United States is also pushing the "semiconductor supply chain back to the United States."

According to the US Consumer News and Business Channel, in June this year, the US Senate passed a US$250 billion "American Innovation and Competition Act", of which about US$52 billion was used to fund semiconductor research, design, and manufacturing.

Reuters said that the special fund will be used to subsidize the factories of Intel, TSMC, Samsung and other companies in the United States.

According to the New York Times, the United States has tried to force chip manufacturers to return to the United States since former President Trump took office. With TSMC this year announcing the establishment of a chip factory in the United States, this policy is declaring victory.

  According to the "Wall Street Journal" report, after contacting the US government, TSMC decided to build a factory in Arizona, USA. Samsung also plans to invest US$17 billion to build a factory in Texas and start production in 2024.

But obviously going to the United States to build factories is not in the best interests of these companies.

TSMC Chairman Liu Deyin admitted in an interview with Time magazine that the establishment of a plant in the United States was "political driven" and that "the cost is much higher than TSMC's expectations."

TSMC plans to invest US$100 billion in expansion of production capacity in the next three years, but “the more you look at it, the more you feel that it is not enough.” At the same time, there are also difficulties in recruiting qualified technicians and workers in the United States.

He said that "semiconductor localization will not increase the resilience of the supply chain" and may even "decrease resilience."

  With ulterior motives——

  Establishing "chip hegemony" intends to use "chips" to contain China

  For decades, global chip manufacturing capacity has continued to shift to Asia.

According to data from the International Semiconductor Industry Association, as of 2020, Asia accounted for 79% of global chip production capacity, and the United States accounted for 12% of global chip production capacity, far lower than the 37% in 1990.

  Don Graves, the US Deputy Secretary of Commerce, admitted that the current US semiconductor industry is facing two major crises. The first is that semiconductor supply shortages have disrupted many key industries such as automobiles and consumer electronics, causing corporate layoffs and a slowdown in economic recovery; the second is the United States. "Long-term leadership" in the semiconductor supply chain is under threat. The United States' share of global semiconductor production has fallen sharply in the past 20 years.

  Wang Yong, director of the American Research Center of Peking University, pointed out to this reporter that the United States has used its economic, scientific and technological strength and political influence to force key semiconductor data from other countries. Although it is called "increasing supply chain flexibility", its essential purpose is to control. Global supply chain, building American chip hegemony.

At the same time, the United States intends to "weaponize" chips to control the lifeline of other countries and threaten the security of other countries' industries.

  South Korea’s "Mainichi Business News" recently reported on the topic "America wants to dominate the semiconductor supply chain, and Biden's version of "America First" is launched." industry.

The U.S.'s naked protection of local industries has put companies in other countries into trouble.

  Xu Xiujun, a researcher at the Institute of World Economics and Politics of the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, said that a series of actions by the United States are aimed at consolidating its leading advantages in the high-tech field and controlling key downstream industries in the industrial chain, so as to maintain the asymmetric dependence of other countries on the global supply chain. Lock other countries in the middle and low end of the industry chain.

The United States uses national power to seize trade secrets, trying to fully grasp the development of important technologies and important products in other countries, understand their production, revenue and customer information, and supplement them with so-called censorship methods to restrict and crack down on these companies, and provide benefits for their domestic chip companies. In order to enhance the domestic chip manufacturing capacity and international status of the United States.

  As early as February 24 this year, Biden signed a presidential decree requiring that the supply chain of four key categories such as semiconductors and high-capacity batteries be adjusted within 100 days, in order to build a stable procurement system.

"Nihon Keizai Shimbun" stated that the presidential decree has strong implications for China, and the United States strives to get rid of its dependence on China's supply chain in key products.

  The rise of China's technology clearly makes the United States feel anxious.

Previously, there were bans against ZTE and Huawei, and afterwards, China Telecom's licenses in the United States were revoked for no reason. Now, the United States has to interfere with the production and operation activities of even US and South Korean companies in China.

  According to Bloomberg News, out of "national security considerations," the Biden administration recently rejected Intel’s plans to increase production in China.

Intel once proposed to produce silicon wafers at a factory in Chengdu, China, which was strongly opposed by the Biden administration.

In addition, the South Korean semiconductor company SK Hynix recently planned to introduce the extreme ultraviolet lithography machine of the Dutch Asimer company into the Wuxi semiconductor factory in China, which was blocked by the White House, citing "worries that China may use the technology of the United States and its allies to improve military capabilities. Create security threats".

  Shen Yi, director of the International Governance Research Base of Cyberspace at Fudan University, pointed out that, at present, the domestic advanced manufacturing capacity in the United States continues to decline, and it is difficult to achieve technological breakthroughs in advanced chip manufacturing processes.

At the same time, in the context of the Sino-US science and technology game, the United States insisted on containing the development of China's chip industry, blocking the sale of related equipment for manufacturing chips to China, disrupting the rhythm of production capacity, and disrupting the global supply chain.

This move superimposed the impact of the new crown pneumonia epidemic and exacerbated the global chip supply.

Under multiple stimuli, the United States is eager to encourage its own chip manufacturing industry, improve the scientific research capabilities of local companies, achieve a leap in advanced chip manufacturing and production capacity, and consolidate the security of the US supply chain.

  "Since the Trump administration, the United States has increasingly clashed with China in the field of advanced manufacturing represented by chips, and even continuously broke through the industry rules and basic business bottom lines set by the United States itself. This reflects the current situation facing the United States. A profound dilemma is that the United States has attached great importance to financialization in the past, which has led to a serious hollowing out of the manufacturing industry. In the United States' view, unless aggressive measures are taken to intercept, the transfer of industrial capabilities to China is almost a set trend." Shen Yi said.

  Hurt self and others--

  Interference with industrial order hinders technological innovation

  The US government has long been notorious for its unreasonable suppression of high-tech companies in other countries, the most typical of which is the experience of Alstom in France.

In 2013, the United States arrested Frederick Pierucci, an executive of the company for violating the FCPA, and subsequently filed a lawsuit against him and imposed a huge fine of $772 million on Alstom.

Under tremendous pressure from the United States, the company eventually sold its power business to its main competitor, General Electric.

  Wang Yong believes that one of the important achievements of the development of economic globalization is the formation of a global supply chain. In the process of globalization, industries in various countries have formed a vertical division of labor system with a clear upstream and downstream, which constitutes an important part of international trade.

However, following the idea of ​​politicizing economic and technological issues, the United States is attempting to reorganize the global supply chain, establish its own "small circle" of gangs, strengthen the United States' control over key technologies, and attempt to establish a de-Sinicization and de-Russia. The modernized supply chain system has actually disrupted the division of labor in the global supply chain and caused great damage to normal global trade exchanges and the international trade order.

  Shen Yi pointed out that the use of national power by the United States to remove barriers to competition for local enterprises can at best only gain a temporary window of time for the upgrading of the US industry and the revitalization of the physical manufacturing industry.

However, the United States frequently wields a big stick and regards the use of national power as the norm, which will eventually bring about a counterproductive effect, cause inertia of local enterprises, and reduce the independent motivation for the upgrading of the US industry.

  "In the global supply chain dominated by the United States, companies in other countries are facing the risk of'time bomb' explosion at any time. If things go on like this, the international community will definitely deepen its distrust of the United States, and the United States will be marginalized in the international system. When China's chips become independent After a substantial breakthrough in manufacturing capacity, other countries will tend to cooperate with China and avoid dealing with the United States." Shen Yi said.

  "Since many chip companies have relatively close business relations with China, obtaining relevant data from these companies will help the United States to take targeted measures to target Chinese companies in a targeted manner. But in the long run, this will also further promote China. Independent innovation and self-reliance in the semiconductor industry and technology companies." Xu Xiujun said.

  "How the United States will use the forced semiconductor industry data is still unclear. However, the United States regards China as a competitor and will inevitably curb the development of China's economy and industry accordingly. However, this will also force China's semiconductor industry. And the development of related science and technology industries has prompted China to increase investment in key technologies and break through the technical bottleneck of "stuck neck". In the future, China's chip technology development will have the opportunity to obtain greater market opportunities." Wang Yong said.

Lin Zihan