White House calls for investigation into China’s alleged anti-competitive semiconductor industry

The probe will look at “foundational” semiconductors used in the automotive, healthcare, aerospace and defense industries.

The Office of the US Trade Representative (USTR) has started a probe into China’s semiconductor industry, looking for anti-competitive trade practices. According to a White House statement, the USTR is looking into China for “acts, policies and practices” that reduced or eliminated competition in the marketplace for semiconductors.

The probe is being conducted through Section 301 of the US Trade Act of 1974 to examine trade practices for “foundational” semiconductors that are used by the automotive, healthcare, infrastructure, aerospace and defense industries. The White House accused China on Monday of “routinely” engaging in “non-market policies and practices, as well as industrial targeting, of the semiconductor industry” that caused significant harm to its competition and created “dangerous supply chain dependencies,” according to the statement.

If action is taken as ...