US fears China could make West dependent on ‘legacy’ chips

China’s expansion of semiconductor production threatens to make societies dependent on the communist regime for computer chips essential to a host of products used daily around the world, U.S. and European officials fear.

“Based on China’s own reporting, about 60% of all new ‘legacy’ chips coming to the market in the next handful of years will be produced by China,” Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo told reporters Friday. “And we know there is a massive subsidization of that industry on behalf of the Chinese government, which could lead to huge market distortion, and so that’s why we’re focused on it.”