U.S. Orders Companies To Stop Software Sales To China

The Trump administration has effectively cut off some U.S. companies from selling software used to design semiconductors to China, The Financial Times reported, according to Elisabeth Buchwald and John Liu for CNN.

Siemens “will continue to work with our customers globally to mitigate the impact of these new restrictions while operating in compliance with applicable national export control regimes." I Photo: Siemens EDA Asia Facebook

Impacted companies include Cadence, Synopsys, and Siemens EDA, according to Financial Times reporting, which cited people familiar with the matter. CNN was not immediately able to confirm that. Cadence and Synopsys did not respond to requests for comment.

The New York Times subsequently reported on Wednesday that sales to China of jet engine technology and certain chemicals were also halted. The Commerce Department told CNN that it is reviewing exports of strategic significance to China.

“In some cases, Commerce has suspended existing export licenses or imposed additional license requirements while the review is pending,” a spokesperson told CNN.

However, the department did not respond to CNN’s inquiry regarding which companies were affected.

A Siemens spokesperson told CNN that the U.S. government informed the industry on Friday about new export controls on chip-designing software for China and Chinese military end users globally.

Siemens “will continue to work with our customers globally to mitigate the impact of these new restrictions while operating in compliance with applicable national export control regimes,” the spokesperson said.

The move could be the latest blow in an ongoing trade war between the world’s two biggest economies.

The Commerce Department’s actions underscore the acrimony between the two nations and the challenges in maintaining stability, Yong Xiong also reported for CNN.