Another China challenge

Export controls will affect high-tech businesses

China’s decision to impose export controls on eight gallium products and six germanium products has set off supply-chain uncertainties across the semiconductor industry and, by extension, all the high-tech areas in which chips are essential components in the value chain. This is in apparent retaliation to the blocking of the export of high-end semiconductor manufacturing equipment to China by the US, Japan, and the European Union. For India, production-linked incentive initiatives like the Rs 76,000 crore “Semicon India Programme” could hit a hurdle. Supply constraints may also affect downstream production in multiple industries. Export from China will need licences and