The United States has reportedly told allies it is considering using the most severe trade curbs available if companies continue giving China access to advanced chip tech

Chinese chipmakers have escalated their purchases of ASML's machines used to make older generations of chips widely used in cars and smartphones

In May, the US Commerce Department revoked licences allowing companies including Intel and Qualcomm to ship chips used for laptops and handsets to Huawei

Any larger scale or protracted industrial action would be a headache for Samsung as it scrambles to catch up with rivals in chips used for artificial intelligence

The challenge spells trouble for China’s furiously expanding AI industry — which remains cut off from cutting-edge chips due to US sanctions

TSMC is currently prohibited from producing advanced processors for China, as it uses American chipmaking tools, and hence falls under the purview of recent sanctions

The reported move comes after US President Joe Biden announced sweeping tariff increases on Chinese chip, EV, battery and solar cell imports

The planned tariffs might be a good pre-election move for Biden, but their impact on Chinese industries is likely to be limited

The package is part of President Yoon Suk Yeol’s pledge to pour all possible resources into winning the "war" in chips

China’s largest contract chipmaker said revenue jumped as both domestic and global customers rebuilt inventories

Washington has been lobbying the Dutch to prevent ASML from servicing some of the billions of euros worth of tools it has already sold to Chinese customers

Raimondo’s views come at a time when Huawei's revelation of a new AI-enabled laptop, powered by Intel's new Core Ultra 9 chip, has angered China hardliners in the US