U.S. bans on advanced chips are impacting China and offering a parallel to Beijing’s threats to cut off rare earths, but both will likely lead to workarounds.
An employee inspect semiconductor chips at a factory in Binzhou, in eastern Shandong Province, China, on Jan. 15, 2025. STR/AFP via Getty Images
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Commentary
President Donald Trump has embraced and continues to enforce the Biden administration’s ban on the sale of advanced semiconductors and semiconductor manufacturing machinery to China. Though at first the embargo seemed to be more posturing than anything else, recent reports out of China suggest that the policy is beginning to bite.
Milton Ezrati is a contributing editor at The National Interest, an affiliate of the Center for the Study of Human Capital at the University at Buffalo (SUNY), and chief economist for Vested, a New York-based communications firm. Before joining Vested, he served as chief market strategist and economist for Lord, Abbett & Co. He also writes frequently for City Journal and blogs regularly for Forbes. His latest book is “Thirty Tomorrows: The Next Three Decades of Globalization, Demographics, and How We Will Live.”
