WASHINGTON, Dec 15 (Reuters) – The Biden administration on Thursday added Chinese memory chipmaker YMTC and 21 “major” Chinese players in the artificial intelligence chip sector to a trade blacklist, broadening its crackdown on China’s chip industry.

YMTC was added to the list over fears it could divert American technology to previously blacklisted Chinese tech giants Huawei Technologies Co Ltd [RIC:RIC:HWT.UL] and Hikvision (002415.SZ). The move, laid out in the Federal Register, will bar YMTC’s suppliers from shipping U.S. goods to it without a difficult-to-obtain license.

Here is a brief overview of some of the key actions taken as part of the package:

FRESH ENTITY LISTINGS

The Biden administration added 35 Chinese companies and one Japan-based subsidiary of a Chinese company (YMTC) to the entity list, barring their suppliers from selling them U.S. technology without a hard-to-obtain permit.

REMOVALS FROM THE UNVERIFIED LIST

The Biden administration removed 27 Chinese entities from the unverified list. Companies are added to the unverified list if the United States cannot complete on-site visits to determine whether they can be trusted to receive sensitive U.S. technology exports, inspections which in China require approval from the commerce ministry.

Reporting by Alexandra Alper, Editing by William Maclean

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