The U.S.’s restrictions on shipments to Chinese company Huawei are working, declared U.S. Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo on Sunday, demonstrated by the fact that the chip powering the company’s Mate 60 Pro phone isn’t as advanced as American chips.
The debut of Huawei’s Mate 60 Pro phone last year surprised both industry and the U.S. government with the sophistication of the chip that powers it. The product was seen as symbolic of technological prowess in China, despite the U.S. government’s attempts to hinder advanced semiconductor production.
The company has been on a trade restriction list since 2019 because of fears that it could spy on Americans. To ship to Huawei, American suppliers had to secure a hard-to-get license, though licenses worth billions of dollars have been obtained.
However, “the export controls are working because that chip is not nearly as good,” Raimondo said. “…It’s years behind what we have in the United States. We have the most sophisticated semiconductors in the world. China doesn’t.”
