Trump orders Chips à chips software

The tension between US and China increases with new technological sanctions, directly affecting companies and the global semiconductor market

Trump administration has guided US companies that offer used semiconductor design software to interrupt the sale of their services to Chinese groups in a new attempt to make advanced chip developmental development difficult. Several people familiar with the measure said the US Department of Commerce has instructed the so -called Electronic Design Automation groups (EDA) – which include Cadence, Synopsys and Siemens Eda – to stop providing their technology to China.

According to these sources, the Office of Industry and Security (BIS), an agency of the Department of Commerce responsible for controlling exports, issued the directive to companies through letters. It was unclear whether all US EDA companies had received the notification.

The measure represents a significant new effort from the government to make China’s ability difficult to develop state -of -the -art artificial intelligence chips, seeking a technological advantage over its geopolitical rival. In April, Washington had already restricted the export of AI chips specific to China, manufactured by Nvidia.

During the second quarter results conference on Wednesday, Synopsys CEO Sassine Ghazi said: “We are aware of reports and speculation, but Synopsys has not received any notification from BIS. Therefore, our year orientation reflects our current understanding of BIS export restrictions, as well as our expectation of falling revenue in China compared to last year.”

An employee of the Department of Commerce stated that he is “Reviewing exports of strategic importance to China. In some cases, [o departamento] It has suspended existing export licenses or imposed additional requirements while the review is underway. ”

The directive emerges at a delicate time, as US and China try to reach a trade agreement after both sides have agreed in Geneva in pausing retaliatory tariffs for 90 days.

O Financial Times Last month reported that the Trump administration intended to include several Chinese chip manufacturers on a blacklist, which would make it extremely difficult to provide American technology to them. However, some employees have advocated a postponement so as not to undermine trade negotiations between the two countries.

Christopher Johnson, a former CIA analist to China, said the new export controls highlight “Inherent fragility of the tariff truce achieved in Geneva. With both sides wanting to maintain and demonstrate the effectiveness of their respective pressure capabilities, the risk that ceasefire will undo even 90 days of pause is omnipresent.”

Johnson, who leads risk consultancy China Strategies Group, said China successfully used its rare dominance to take the US to the Geneva negotiation table, which “It has left China’s hawks in Trump administration eager to show that their export control weapons still have power.”

Although it represents a relatively small portion of the semiconductor industry, EDA software allows designers and chip manufacturers to develop and test the next generation of chips, making it a critical part of the supply chain.

Synopsys, Cadence Design Systems and Siemens Eda – part of Siemens Digital Industries Software, a subsidiary of German Siemens AG – represent about 80% of the EDA market in China. Synopsys and Cadence did not immediately respond to requests for comment.

In the 2024 fiscal year, Synopsys recorded nearly $ 1 billion in sales in China, about 16% of its revenue. Cadence reported that China represented $ 550 million, or 12% of its revenue.

Synopsys shares fell 9.6% on Wednesday, while Cadence’s fell 10.7%.

Siemens stated in a statement that the EDA sector was reported last Friday about new export controls. The company said it supports customers in China “For over 150 years” and that “It will continue to work with clients globally to mitigate the impact of these new restrictions, operating in accordance with applicable export control regimes.”

By 2022, Biden administration imposed restrictions on the sale of more sophisticated chine’s chip design software, but companies continued to sell products compatible with export rules to the country.

In his first term, Donald Trump forbade Chinese Huawei from using American EDA tools. Huawei is seen as an emerging competitor of Nvidia with its ASI’s AI chips.

Nvidia’s CEO Jensen Huang recently warned that the successive attempts of American AI ecosystem from China with export controls have failed.

Last year, Synopsys signed an agreement to acquire Ansys, an American simulation software company for $ 35 billion. The business still depends on the approval of Chinese regulators. Ansys shares fell 5.3% on Wednesday.

On Wednesday, the US Federal Trade Commission (FTC) announced that both companies will need to get rid of certain software tools to obtain approval for the transaction.

Export restrictions have boosted Chinese competitors, with three major EDA companies – Empyrean Technology, Primarius and Seminronix – significantly increasing their market share in recent years.

Empyrean, Primarius, and Semronix shares rose more than 10% on the initial trading session in China on Thursday.

With information from Financial Times*