US Set to Put China Chipmaker YMTC on Blacklist

YMTC has been investigated for allegedly supplying Nand memory chips to Huawei for its new smartphones. Photo: Reuters

The Biden Administration is expected to put Chinese chipmaker Yangtze Memory Technologies (YMTC) on a tougher export control list, possibly this week.

YMTC is likely to be added to the US Commerce Department’s ‘Entity List‘, which bars American firms from selling technology to companies unless they get an export licence, sources have said.

The memory chipmaker is already on the US government’s “unverified list” of dozens of companies that US officials have been unable to conduct end-user checks on to ensure US technology is not being diverted for unauthorised uses.

That happened in October, after a Financial Times report which said YMTC appeared to have violated US export controls by supplying Nand memory chips to Huawei for its latest smartphones.

A person familiar with the matter said YMTC was among some companies that received site visits in late November, suggesting that the chipmaker’s expected addition to the entity list may be related to other matters.

US lawmakers from both political parties have called on the Biden administration to add YMTC to the list. Its planned addition was first reported by the Financial Times.

The YMTC move is likely to spark protests from Beijing, which filed a dispute on Monday with the World Trade Organization over export controls imposed on China by the US on October 7, the FT said.

The US says the matter is a national security issue, not a trade dispute.

YMTC did not immediately respond to requests for comment.