MOC asks US to drop its chip probe

China called on the United States to respect the facts and multilateral rules, and immediately stop its erroneous practices, vowing that the country will take all necessary measures to defend its rights and interests, said the Ministry of Commerce on Monday.

The Office of the US Trade Representative announced on Sunday the initiation of an investigation regarding "China's acts, policies and practices related to targeting of the semiconductor industry for dominance". The investigation will be conducted under Section 301 of the Trade Act of 1974, according to a press release.

China is strongly dissatisfied with and firmly opposes this move. The Section 301 investigation clearly reflects unilateralism and protectionism, said a spokesperson of the ministry in an online statement.

The US has initiated a new Section 301 investigation into China's semiconductor industry policies, aiming to suppress China and serve domestic political interests. This action will disrupt and distort the global semiconductor industrial and supply chains. It will harm the interests of US businesses and consumers, said the commerce official.

The ministry pointed out that through the US' CHIPS and Science Act, the US provides large subsidies to its semiconductor industry, and its companies hold nearly half of the global semiconductor market share, and yet it hypes China's industry threat.

"This is clearly contradictory and completely baseless," said the spokesperson, pointing out that a recent report by the US Department of Commerce revealed that Chinese semiconductors make up only 1.3 percent of the US market share. Chinese chip exports to the US are far lower than China's imports from the US.