CHIPS ACT ‘guardrails’ are ‘protectionist blockade’, says China

China has hit out at the proposed rules, or ‘guardrails’, that the United States has announced for recipients of the $50 billion CHIPS Act funding, calling them ‘blockade measures and protectionist in nature.’

‘The US has overstretched the concept of national security, abused export control measures, and even coerced some of its allies to block and contain China and attempt to fragment the industrial chains at the latter’s expense,’ Foreign Ministry spokesman Wang Wenbin told reporters, 22 March.

His comments came a day after the US Commerce Department released a ‘Notice of Proposed Rulemaking’ for the guidelines to be included in the CHIPS Incentives Program. Among other things, the draft rules prohibit recipients from using the funds in other countries. It also significantly restricts recipients from investing in most semiconductor manufacturing in foreign countries of concern (China, Russia, Iran, and North Korea) for 10 years after the date of award.

‘The “guardrails” proposed by the US are sci-tech blockade measures and protectionist in nature,’ Wang said. 

‘Containment and suppression cannot hold back China’s development,’ he said. ‘Instead, it will only strengthen China’s resolve and capability to seek self-reliance and technological innovation.’

https://www.fmprc.gov.cn/mfa_eng/xwfw_665399/s2510_665401/2511_665403/202303/t20230322_11047208.html