By Stephen Nellis
(Reuters) – U.S. export controls on sending advanced computing chips to China are not intended to halt China’s economy or technological development, Secretary of State Antony Blinken said during an interview with Public Radio National this Friday.
Since 2022, US authorities have imposed sweeping controls on computing chips that can be exported to China, cutting off some sales from Nvidia, Advanced Micro Devices and Intel, among others. These controls followed previous bans on chip shipments to Huawei Technologies.
But US authorities have granted at least two US companies – Intel and Qualcomm – licenses to continue shipping chips to Huawei, which is using an Intel chip to power a new laptop model. Two Republican lawmakers earlier this week criticized the exemption for Intel, but in the NPR interview, Blinken highlighted the provision as a sign that the US was not trying to harm China.
“I saw that Huawei just released a new laptop that boasts of being AI capable, that uses an Intel chip,” Blinken told NPR host Steve Inskeep while visiting Beijing. “I think this demonstrates that we are only focused on the most sensitive technology that could pose a threat to our security. We are not focused on cutting off trade, or, for that matter, containing or holding back China.”
Intel and Qualcomm’s licenses to sell to Huawei were granted during President Donald Trump’s administration and remained in effect under President Joe Biden. These companies’ direct competitors, AMD and MediaTek, have not received similar exemptions, and neither the Trump nor Biden administrations have explained why.
(This story has been refiled to correct Antony Blinken’s name in paragraph 4)
(Reporting by Stephen Nellis in San Francisco; Editing by Sandra Maler)
