The Donald Trump administration issued an order prohibiting U.S. corporations that supply software used in semiconductor design from exporting to China.
On the 28th (local time), according to Financial Times (FT) and others, the Bureau of Industry and Security, which oversees export controls at the U.S. Department of Commerce, sent a letter to Cadence Design Systems, Synopsys, and Siemens EDA instructing them to stop supplying technology to China.
While EDA software accounts for a relatively small portion of the entire semiconductor industry, it plays a crucial role in chip designers and manufacturers developing and testing next-generation chips. The three companies that received the letter hold about 80% of the EDA market in China. It remains unclear whether all EDA corporations received this letter.
Earlier, the Trump administration activated regulations in April requiring NVIDIA, the top player in artificial intelligence (AI) semiconductors in the U.S., to obtain government approval for exports of the H20 semiconductor to China. The Joe Biden administration also prohibited exports to China of NVIDIA's latest AI semiconductors in September 2022. Foreign media evaluated this measure as part of efforts to make it difficult for China to develop advanced AI semiconductors.