US Removes Curbs on China Chip Design Software Following Deal

The Trump administration has lifted export license requirements for chip design software sales in China, implementing a trade deal to ease some restrictions on essential technologies. Three leading semiconductor software providers — Synopsys, Cadence Design Systems and Germany’s Siemens — were told by the Commerce Department that they no longer need to seek licenses for business in China. Under the agreement finalized last week, Washington allowed China-bound shipments of EDA software, a key tool for the semiconductor industry, as well as ethane and jet engines, provided Beijing honors its pledge to speed export approvals for critical minerals.

While Beijing and Washington may be upholding their truce for now, China is also wary about what’s happening elsewhere: US efforts to forge deals that could isolate them from global supply chains. The US is pushing major trading partners in Asia and Europe for commitments to counter what Washington sees as China’s unfair trade practices. President Donald Trump’s tariff agreement with Vietnam is an example, placing higher levies on goods deemed to be “transshipping” — where components from China and other nations are routed through Vietnam or subject to minimal final assembly before being exported to the US. Bloomberg Economics said the deal risks provoking retaliatory steps from China.

A senior Chinese official said he was “optimistic” about the future of his nation’s ties with the US, one of the most upbeat comments from Beijing in recent weeks about a relationship upended by Trump’s trade war. Both Chinese and Americans are hoping for a “friendly, good” relationship, and politicians are expected to heed the will of the people, Liu Jianchao, head of the Communist Party’s International Department, said. Liu said war between China and the US was “unimaginable,” while highlighting Taiwan and the South China Sea as possible flashpoints.