U.S. Commerce Chief Downplays Chip In Huawei Phone

The chip powering the Mate 60 Pro phone of the sanctioned Chinese company Huawei is not as advanced as American chips, US Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo said, arguing that it shows US curbs on shipments to the telecom equipment giant are working, as reported by Alexandra Alper for Reuters.

Commerce Secretary Raimondo believes that export controls are working because the chip is not nearly as good and it's years behind what is available in the US. I Photo: Cameron Smith, The White House Flickr

Huawei, which has been on a trade restriction list since 2019, surprised the industry and the US government when it released a new phone powered by a sophisticated chip last August.

The Huawei Mate 60 Pro was seen as a symbol of China's technological resurgence despite Washington's ongoing efforts to cripple its capacity to produce advanced semiconductors.

It was also seen by many as a slight to Raimondo, who was visiting China when it was released. But in an interview with CBS News' "60 Minutes," Raimondo pushed back against that view.

“What it tells me is the export controls are working because that chip is not nearly as good... it's years behind what we have in the US," she said. "We have the most sophisticated semiconductors in the world. China doesn't."