A reappraisal of China's semiconductor strategy

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Tyler

Captain
Registered Member
Military action against anyone would be absolutely the wrong move for China. Something like that would play right into US hand, as it'd turn pretty much everyone against China.

If China wants to pressure Taiwan, it may try to do so economically. Taiwanese exports to China and Hong Kong make up something like 40% of their total exports. Blocking that overnight would hurt China but would hurt Taiwan much, much more.

Sovereign military action will only take place when the big bully tries to shutdown TSMC, as this would be a national security issue.
 

Hendrik_2000

Lieutenant General
China should not repeat the same mistake that the Japanese did.By signing Plaza accord Japan unwittingly condemn their semiconductor industry to death by forcing industry to buy american semi. Here is a good article revisiting plaza accord and compare it to present dispute between China and US. Hard as it is China should not give up supporting the semiconductor industry by agreeing for numerical import target

Another important lesson relates to Japan’s downplaying of its strong industrial policy, by accepting an increase of US semiconductor imports, effectively reducing the competitiveness of Japan’s own semiconductor industry. Similar lessons can be learned from Japan’s auto industry. As the Chinese government has more control over its economy than the Japanese, the US could become more demanding of China under the Trump administration.

Government intervention in the economy is a double-edged sword, as the US-Japan trade dispute revealed. On the one hand, it can support the development of strategic sectors, such as semiconductors. On the other hand, numerical import targets could reduce the county’s competitiveness, as revealed by the dismal fate of the Japanese sector after the US-Japan Semiconductor Agreement in 1986


Will China’s trade war with the US end like that of Japan in the 1980s?
The outcome of the US-China trade war is anticipated to be quite different from the experience of Japan in the 1980s and 1990s, due to China’s relatively lower dependence on the US and having learned from the Japanese experience.
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DATE: MAY 13, 2019 TOPIC: GLOBAL ECONOMICS & GOVERNANCE

This article was published by Latin Trade.

The US has been criticising China for its unfair trade practices and currency manipulation, which are strikingly similar to the US-Japan disputes in the 1980s and 1990s. The US criticised Japan for its large current account surplus, which resulted in long intense trade negotiations between the two governments, and a broad range of economic policies to reduce Japan’s excess savings. With a bit of hindsight, the US arguably successfully contained Japan’s rising momentum, and adapted itself to the new economic environment. With this background, the important question is whether China will have a similar fate as Japan, once the US-China trade disputes are done. Our take is definitively no.

In the big picture, Japan and China challenged the US hegemony at very different stages of their economic development. Arguably, Japan faced pressure from the US when it was close to its economic peak with an increasingly ageing population, and stagnant labour productivity. On the other hand, China’s GDP per capita was still small compared to the US, with a much younger population. Furthermore, China’s labour productivity has been improving rapidly, on the back of larger investments in manufacturing and infrastructure. In addition, while still at an early stage of economic development, China’s economic size is considerably larger than Japan at its peak, and takes up a significantly larger export share worldwide. Therefore, as China continues to climb up the technology ladder, its presence in the global economy is anticipated to increase, further challenging the US. In light of this, the outcome of the US-China trade war is anticipated to be quite different from the experience Japan had, not to mention China is less dependent on the US than Japan was, both politically and economically.

Arguably, Japan was an easy target for US bashing. After the second world war, Japan has been both politically and economically dependent on the US, resulting in limited bargaining power to counteract the US. Being less dependent on the US, China is in a better position to resist US pressure to adjust its economic policies in order to create demand for US products. This was especially the case for the exchange rate (with a massive appreciation of the yen), and a lax monetary policy to create more import demand from Japan. We should not expect China to follow Japan’s ‘forced’ exchange rate and monetary policy, as a strong renminbi could be the nail in the coffin for China’s structurally weaker exports and rising wages. What’s more, while strong domestic demand could generate imports from the US, excessive policy measures to stimulate growth could lead to an overly lax monetary policy, potentially feeding an asset price bubble, easily aggravated by China’s ageing trends in major cities.

Another important lesson relates to Japan’s downplaying of its strong industrial policy, by accepting an increase of US semiconductor imports, effectively reducing the competitiveness of Japan’s own semiconductor industry. Similar lessons can be learned from Japan’s auto industry. As the Chinese government has more control over its economy than the Japanese, the US could become more demanding of China under the Trump administration.

Government intervention in the economy is a double-edged sword, as the US-Japan trade dispute revealed. On the one hand, it can support the development of strategic sectors, such as semiconductors. On the other hand, numerical import targets could reduce the county’s competitiveness, as revealed by the dismal fate of the Japanese sector after the US-Japan Semiconductor Agreement in 1986. While the private sector could respond to the crisis more effectively, as the Japanese auto companies did by increasing foreign investments in the US, state ownership of Chinese companies could pose challenges for adapting to a changing economic environment.

All in all, with less dependence on the US, China is in a better position than Japan to resist adjusting its economic policies to meet US demand, thereby avoiding Japan’s dismal economic performance. While the government can support strategically important sectors to win global market shares, it should avoid numerical import targets, as they effectively reduced the competitiveness of the Japanese semiconductor companies. Furthermore, China should not follow Japan’s ‘forced’ exchange rate and monetary policy. A stronger renminbi could reduce foreign direct investment into China, and policy measures to stimulate growth could lead to an overly lax monetary policy, potentially feeding an asset price bubble, as experienced in Japan.

Because China is at an earlier stage of economic development, it is expected to challenge the US hegemony for an extended period of time. Therefore, the US-China trade war could last longer than the one with Japan. With China’s growth prospects still relatively solid – it will soon overtake the US economy in size and it does not depend on the US militarily – China will likely challenge US pressure in the ongoing negotiations for a settlement to the trade war. This also means that any deal will only be temporary, as the US will not be able to contain China as easily as it contained Japan.
 

CMP

Senior Member
Registered Member
Sovereign military action will only take place when the big bully tries to shutdown TSMC, as this would be a national security issue.

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One industry insider with contacts in Taiwan says that American officials are pressing Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company (tsmc), a big and cutting-edge chipmaker, to drop Huawei, which is its third-biggest customer. That would be a crushing blow, for Chinese chip factories are not up to the task of manufacturing HiSilicon’s sophisticated designs. tsmc’s only peer is Samsung—and South Korea is another of America’s allies. tsmc said on May 23rd that it would continue supplying Huawei for now.
 
now I read
China’s cybersecurity laws may be used to block US tech firms on national security grounds, says expert
  • The draft measures have been released online for public feedback until June 24
  • They were published amid escalating trade war tensions between Beijing and Washington
Updated: 6:08am, 25 May, 2019
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China has highlighted “secure and controllable” technology in the country’s critical information infrastructure in a new draft of cybersecurity regulation, sparking speculation that the rule could be used as a retaliatory tool to block US technology companies on the ground of national security.

In a draft Cybersecurity Review Measures document published on Friday by China’s Cyberspace Administration, operators of the country’s critical information infrastructure, including major telecommunications network operators and financial service providers, would be required to evaluate the national security risk when purchasing foreign products and services.

“China could use [the draft regulation] to block US tech purchases on the basis of national security,” said Samm Sacks, cybersecurity policy and China digital economy fellow at New America, a non-partisan think tank in the US.

“This appears to be responding to new far-reaching US government powers introduced in the executive order.”

The executive order she referred to was issued by US President Donald Trump, restricting American hi-tech purchases by “foreign adversaries” that are deemed a national security risk

The draft regulation was published amid escalating trade war tensions between Beijing and Washington.

Last week, the Trump Administration delivered a one-two punch to Huawei Technologies, one of China’s tech champions, with an executive order that bans US purchases of the Chinese company’s products on the basis of national security.

It also put Huawei on a blacklist that cuts its supply of American products, ranging from Intel and Qualcomm chips to Google’s Android operating system that runs on the Chinese telecoms equipment maker’s smartphones.

National security concerns have long been used as the justification for Washington’s increased scrutiny over Huawei.

American lawmakers have questioned Huawei’s ties with the Chinese Communist Party, though the company has denied assertions that its equipment could be used for spying.

With China’s possible retaliatory move on US companies with the draft regulation, experts say the world is heading down a path of two distinct technology-based ecosystems where China pushes out US companies and the US pushes out Chinese companies.

The draft measures, which have been published online for public feedback until June 24, are part of a security review tied to implementation of China’s cybersecurity law which came into effect in June 2017.

The draft does not provide a detailed list of what could be considered as a security risk, other than to provide some examples such as “leaking, lost and cross-border transfer of key data” and “supply chain security threat”.

“The regulatory opacity means that officials have quite a lot of flexibility in how they want to implement this – meaning it could be applied to US firms in a way that embodies ‘qualitative measures’ as part of China’s trade war response,” said Nick Marro, Hong Kong-based analyst with The Economist Intelligence Unit.

Marro, whose focus includes Chinese foreign policy, said the compliance burden for foreign companies would be high because they will not know what information is required for each review and which one is more important.
 

ZeEa5KPul

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One industry insider with contacts in Taiwan says that American officials are pressing Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company (tsmc), a big and cutting-edge chipmaker, to drop Huawei, which is its third-biggest customer. That would be a crushing blow, for Chinese chip factories are not up to the task of manufacturing HiSilicon’s sophisticated designs. tsmc’s only peer is Samsung—and South Korea is another of America’s allies. tsmc said on May 23rd that it would continue supplying Huawei for now.
It's troubling that TSMC is coming under pressure, but I agree with the poster who argued that cutting off trade with Taiwan in that situation is far more effective than military action. In any event, that's not the most important part of the article you posted; this is:

Trust in American technology firms has been eroded, says Mr Triolo. China has already committed billions of dollars to efforts to boost its domestic capabilities in chipmaking and technology. For its rulers, America’s bans highlight the urgency of that policy. Catching up will not be easy, believes Mr Ernst, for chips and software are the most complicated products that humans make. But, he says, if you talk to people in China’s tech industry they all say the same thing: “We no longer have any other option.”
Finally, they get it!
 

tidalwave

Senior Member
Registered Member
Then Huawei should forget about 7 nm chip and downgrade to 14nm and use SMIC.

The lesson is don't use it if you don't own it.

If both Samsung and TSMC dropping Huawei, China government might as well seize their Fabs in China and put them under Chinese control. Seizure of their equipments.
 

CMP

Senior Member
Registered Member
Then Huawei should forget about 7 nm chip and downgrade to 14nm and use SMIC.

The lesson is don't use it if you don't own it.

If both Samsung and TSMC dropping Huawei, China government might as well seize their Fabs in China and put them under Chinese control. Seizure of their equipments.

Fully agreed.
 

manqiangrexue

Brigadier
Then Huawei should forget about 7 nm chip and downgrade to 14nm and use SMIC.

The lesson is don't use it if you don't own it.

If both Samsung and TSMC dropping Huawei, China government might as well seize their Fabs in China and put them under Chinese control. Seizure of their equipments.
If Huawei downgrades its 7nm chips to 14nm, what is the expected reduction to the performance of its phones from a user standpoint? Is it barely noticeable, clearly noticeable but still competitive, or does it severely handicap the phone rendering it non-competitive?
 

PikeCowboy

Junior Member
Then Huawei should forget about 7 nm chip and downgrade to 14nm and use SMIC.

The lesson is don't use it if you don't own it.

If both Samsung and TSMC dropping Huawei, China government might as well seize their Fabs in China and put them under Chinese control. Seizure of their equipments.

seizure is bad publicity, forced sale to a domestic competitor is more kosher, like what US is doing for grindr
 
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