The authors’ views are their own and do not represent the official position of the Institute of Defence

www.rsis.edu.sg No.091– 7 November 2024 The authors’ views are their own and do not represent the official position of the Institute of Defence and Strategic Studies of the S. [...] 091/2024 dated 7 November 2024 The Biden Administration’s Export Controls at Two: Challenges and Gains Adrian Ang U-Jin SYNOPSIS In 2022, the Biden administration leveraged the United States’ strategic command over critical “chokepoints” in the global semiconductor value chain to impose sweeping export controls denying China access to advanced AI chips and the wherewithal to manufacture advanced s. [...] The identity of the TSMC clients and their relationship with Huawei remains unknown, but the episode highlights both the challenges Washington faces in enforcing its export control regime restricting China’s access to advanced AI chips and the wherewithal to develop and manufacture its own advanced chips and the difficulties that Beijing confronts in successfully indigenising a semiconductor suppl. [...] A second Trump administration, on the other hand, could see the imposition of tariffs on both friends and foes and the repeal of the CHIPS and Science Act, which incentivises domestic high-tech research and semiconductor manufacturing. [...] However, even as the region has attracted investment from both US and Chinese technology companies to increase their semiconductor design, chip manufacturing and packaging, and data centre operations, the perils posed from ever-expanding export and investment restrictions and the threats from non-compliance and future tariffs cannot be ignored.