China’s largest foundry, SMIC, allegedly produced the 7nm Kirin 9000s 5G chip using a DUV machine
Huawei, already on the Entity List for being a national security threat and thus unable to do business with its U.S. supply chain, had to develop its own HarmonyOS operating system after being cut off from doing business with Google and its Android software. It also developed its Huawei Mobile Services for its equipment ecosystem.
“The investigations take time,” Raimondo said. “You know, we need them to stick. We need to gather information. So at this point, all I will say is that was concerning and we will take whatever action is the strongest possible to protect America.” Bloomberg reported in October that the Kirin 9000s chipset was made by SMIC using deep ultraviolet lithography (DUV) which can etch circuitry patterns on chips no more advanced than 7nm.
More cutting-edge chips, like the 4nm and 3nm application processors used on some current Android and iOS flagships, require the use of an extreme ultraviolet lithography (EUV) machine which is made by just one company, Dutch firm ASML. U.S. export rules prevent the EUV machine from being shipped to China. Some DUV machines can still be shipped to China.
Chinese Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Mao Ning said during a regular press briefing in Beijing on Tuesday that “the US has time and again abused export-control measures, and this is not in the interests of global and industrial supply chains.”