DeWITT, N.Y. — U.S. Senate Majority Leader Charles Schumer (D–N.Y.) on Tuesday said he wants to limit the use of semiconductor chips made in China, including in supply chains for the U.S. Department of Defense.
Schumer said he would like to limit the use of Chinese chips “in order to strengthen national security, bring critical semiconductor manufacturing back from overseas, and limit foreign dominance of the global microchip market,” per a news release on the topic.
The Democrat made his comments during a visit to NexGen Power Systems at 50 Collamer Crossing Pkwy in DeWitt.
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In his remarks, Schumer revealed that major Chinese companies, with known links to the Chinese Communist Party (CCP), are “actively” selling microchips to companies that do business with the federal government, and suppliers to those businesses.
It makes the U.S. government “more vulnerable” to cyberattacks and the exfiltration of information by foreign competitors, and potentially puts New Yorkers’ data at risk, Schumer contends.
To combat this, the senator said he is working to add a bipartisan provision to this year’s National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA). That provision would limit the use of products or services procured by the federal government — if those products or services use chips from known companies that pose a national security risk.
Limiting that usage will not only protect the security of U.S. supply chains, but also help boost demand for more domestically made microchips, including from places like Upstate New York, Schumer said.
Specifically, Schumer’s NDAA provision adds three Chinese companies, including Semiconductor Manufacturing International Corporation (SMIC), as well as ChangXin Memory Technologies (CXMT) and Yangtze Memory Technologies (YMTC), all with known links to Chinese state security and intelligence apparatuses, as newly covered entities to limit federal procurement of products or services that uses microchips produced by these Chinese companies.
Earlier this year, the CCP-backed chip company SMIC reportedly produced an advanced 7nm chip using some of the most advanced chip manufacturing capabilities, sending a warning sign that the Chinese Communist Party is making concerning strides forward in leading in this critical technology, per Schumer’s office.
