TSMC's Biggest Chinese Rival Gets Slammed by U.S. Sanctions

The Trump Administration recently barred American companies from selling any new products to SMIC (OTC: SMIC.Y), China's largest contract chipmaker, without special government licenses. In a letter introducing those new restrictions, the U.S. Department of Commerce claims exports to SMIC posed an "unacceptable risk" of being diverted to "military end use." SMIC claimed it wasn't notified about those new restrictions, and declared it "has no relationship with the Chinese military and does not manufacture for any military users."