MILPITAS, CA – SEMI today called for a review of the Trump administration's export control policy, and urged the incoming US commerce secretary to work with allies when curbing sales of US technology to China for national security.

The group said the prior administration’s rules made potential benefits less likely to be effective over time, had unnecessarily hurt America, and had left US exporters vulnerable to retaliation.

In a letter to Gina Raimondo, secretary-designate of the US Commerce Department, SEMI President Ajit Manocha said the US should coordinate with allies which companies compete in the global market.

"Multilateral controls – where items of concern are controlled by all major producing nations – create a level playing field, maximize effectiveness, and minimize harm to US national security and economic competitiveness," Manocha wrote. Foreign competitors are marketing goods as "free from US export controls."

The letter condemned the Trump administration for implementing rules with minimal public input and no apparent all-encompassing policy, and said the "highly unusual process" resulted in unintended consequences.

Manocha urged the commerce secretary-designate to correct an August rule that expanded US authority over foreign company sales to Huawei, which affected foreign-made semiconductor production and test equipment. The letter also requested the Biden administration reduce the backlog of license applications.

In addition, the letter said rules that restricted sales to more than 100 entities the US linked to the Chinese military went into effect without industry comment. The tech group suggested the US work with nations like the Netherlands, Germany, the UK, Japan and South Korea to develop common objectives for restricting semiconductor technology to China.

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