US expresses ‘serious concerns’ as China restricts sale of major chip maker Micron

According to US State Department Spokesperson Matthew Miller, China has restricted the sale of Micron Chips in certain domestic industries.

“We have very serious concerns that China has restricted the sale of Micron Chips in certain domestic industries,” Miller said as Beijing imposed a ban on US chip maker Micron from selling to Chinese companies working on key infrastructure projects. As the tussle of power continues between the US and China over technology, the Cyberspace Administration of China (CAC) on Sunday announced that the US chip firm failed a cybersecurity evaluation, hence the restrictions.

Calling the ban an “inconsistent action,” the US State Department Spokesperson Matthew Miller during a regular press briefing said, “The Department of Commerce is engaging directly with PRC to make our view clear.”

“We have very serious concerns that the PRC has restricted the sale of Micron chips in domestic industries. The Department of Commerce is engaging directly with PRC to make our view clear and probably this action appears inconsistent with PRCs assertions that it is open for business and committed to a transparent regulatory framework,” he said.

“The review found that Micron’s products have relatively serious cybersecurity risks, which pose significant security risks to China’s critical information infrastructure supply chain and would affect national security,” the Chinese regulator, CAC said in a statement, reported CNN.

The Chinese regulator’s decision came seven weeks after it began investigating Micron’s devices for cybersecurity risks, ostensibly in retaliation for the semiconductor industry-related sanctions imposed on China by Washington and its allies.

Micron is a major memory chip manufacturer in the United States. More than 10% of their income comes from the Chinese mainland. Micron Technology (MU) shares fell roughly 6% in premarket trading on Monday, shortly after the ban was announced.