Shares in SMIC plummeted 23% in Hong Kong on Monday, following reports that the US is weighing adding China’s largest chipmaker to a US trade blacklist.
Companies on the US list face significant challenges obtaining vital technology because American firms are banned from selling to them without first obtaining a license to do so. Escalating restrictions on Chinese tech firm Huawei, which was added to the list last year, threaten to cripple its global business, for example. The Department of Defense declined to comment on the reports. SMIC, China’s biggest semiconductor maker, said on Monday that it was „in complete shock.“ The company „manufactures semiconductors and provides services solely for civilian and commercial end-users and end-uses,“ SMIC said in a statement filed to the Hong Kong Stock Exchange. „We have no relationship with the Chinese military.“ SMIC added that it is „open to sincere and transparent communication“ with US government agencies „in hope of resolving potential misunderstandings.“ Sanctions against SMIC would be the latest move in an ongoing battle between Washington and Beijing over who controls the technologies of the future. In recent weeks, President Donald Trump has threatened to ban popular Chinese apps like TikTok, owned by ByteDance, and WeChat, owned by Tencent (TCEHY), from operating in the United States.
