China announced an anti-dumping probe into imported American analogue integrated circuit (IC) chips and also initiated an anti-discrimination investigation over Washington’s handling of Chinese semiconductors. The targeted U.S. companies are Texas Instruments, Analog Devices (ADI), Broadcom, and Onsemi. The decisions come just one day ahead of a scheduled meeting between Chinese and U.S. trade delegations in Madrid, Spain. The Ministry of Commerce (MOFCOM) said in a notice posted on its website that the anti-dumping investigation was initiated upon request from the Jiangsu Semiconductor Association, which represents domestic industries affected by the imports.
In a separate statement, it said: “The preliminary evidence submitted by the applicant shows that the import volume of the U.S. products subject to the investigation increased by 37% from 2022 to 2024, but the import price decreased by 52% in the period. This has lowered and suppressed the sales prices of domestic products and caused damage to the production and operation of domestic industries.” The Chinese investigation will target the dumping of U.S. commodity interface IC chips and gate drive IC chips, and review the harm done to Chinese industry between 2022 and 2024.
China remains a key importer of U.S. chips, despite Washington’s growing curbs on high-end chip exports. However, China has also questioned the security of U.S. chips. The Cyberspace Administration of China (CAC) said in a statement on July 31 that it had summoned Nvidia to explain potential “back doors” in its H20 chips. The anti-discrimination probe will target U.S. measures against Chinese semiconductors since Washington launched its Section 301 investigations in 2018. The process would take around three months but could be extended if necessary, the Ministry added.
The announcements come as the fourth round of U.S.-China trade talks began in the Spanish capital on September 14. The Chinese trade delegation led by Vice Premier He Lifeng met with the U.S. team led by Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent. The meetings are expected to last four days. On the agenda are a range of bilateral issues, including trade tariffs, allegations of export control abuses, and the future of the Chinese-owned social media platform TikTok. The talks will be vital for a bilateral trade deal and a potential meeting between US President Donald Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping – tipped to take place before or on the sidelines of the October 30-November 1 Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) summit in South Korea. Despite agreeing to a tariff truce in previous talks held in Geneva, London and Stockholm, the world’s two largest economies have yet to reach a comprehensive trade deal to roll back Trump’s tariffs, the South China Morning Post reports.
China’s exports to the U.S. continued to decline in August, falling 33.1% year-on-year to USD31.6 billion, compared with a 21.7% drop in July. Meanwhile, January to August merchandise shipment to the U.S. dropped 15.5% from a year earlier to USD283 billion.
