Washington’s hoopla over Chinese tech symptom of its own harmful dysfunction
Nvidia announced at a technology conference in Las Vegas that four Chinese automakers will use the company’s DRIVE technology to power their automated driving systems.
The Chinese market accounts for about 20 percent of the company’s revenue and it is seeking to maintain its presence while still complying with Washington’s export restrictions.
Previously, the company said it is exporting chips that are customized for the Chinese market so they do not fall foul of Washington’s advanced chip ban targeting the country.
Nvidia is only one of the chipmakers from the United States, as well as its allies, including the Republic of Korea, trying to adapt to the new normal of “chip war” Washington has launched to try and stifle China’s high-tech progress.
At the Sixth China International Import Expo in Shanghai in November last year, apart from Nvidia, almost all the major chipmakers, including Intel, Qualcomm, AMD, Micron, Texas Instruments, ASML and Samsung Electronics, showcased their latest products, technologies and services.
With the boom of its digital economy, China is now the largest semiconductor market in the world. Its imports of chips and related equipment were valued at $415.6 billion in 2022.
That’s why the semiconductor giants, including those from the United States, cannot afford to withdraw from China, and are taking various measures to diversify their products so they satisfy Washington’s export controls. As industry insiders, what they are well aware of is that the “national security” concerns Washington cites to justify its “chip war” are only unwarranted charges some China-bashing politicians are peddling in an attempt to give credence to their fanciful “China threat” theory.
In fact, as the competitive scaremongering of its politicians shows, the main threat the US faces today is from its inability to perform any self-rectification or apply the brakes to the extreme partisan squabbling that has crippled its political system. As a consequence of the country’s dysfunctional politics, US society is ripping itself apart, as many pressing domestic issues have been left unattended. Were it not for the dominance the US enjoys in global finance, high-tech and military sectors, the US would not have been able to scapegoat China for its self-created woes.
Under great pressure from the Republicans on China-related issues in a US presidential election year, the Joe Biden administration is reportedly considering levying punitive tariffs on Chinese electric vehicles and including older-generation chips in its export control list.
Instead of doubling down on the coercive, bullying and irrational trade practices aimed at China, it should heed the calls of the chipmakers, as well as US companies in other affected industries, for an end to them as they actually serve no party’s interest.