(Yicai) Sept. 15 -- China has launched an anti-dumping investigation into some chip products originating from the United States, as well as an anti-discrimination probe into the measures the US implemented on the Chinese integrated circuit sector.

China’s anti-dumping investigation targets commodity interface and gate driver IC chips using 40-nanometer and above process technologies, the Ministry of Commerce announced on Sept. 13. The probe is expected to be completed within a year, with a possible six-month extension under special circumstances.

The investigation was initiated after a Chinese provincial semiconductor industry association submitted preliminary evidence showing that imports of relevant products from the US surged 37 percent last year from 2022, while their prices plunged 52 percent, harming the domestic industry, a spokesperson for the commerce ministry said, Xinhua News Agency reported.

The US government has recently overstretched the concept of national security, abused export controls and long-arm jurisdiction, and maliciously blocked and suppressed China’s chip products and the artificial intelligence industry, the spokesperson noted, adding that such practices have seriously violated World Trade Organization rules and damaged the legitimate rights and interests of Chinese enterprises.

On the same day, the MOFCOM also announced that it would probe the US measures targeting China’s IC sector, including additional tariffs on Chinese IC products based on the Section 301 investigations since 2018 and actions taken since 2022 to restrict exports of IC products and manufacturing equipment to China and limit the participation of US personnel in Chinese semiconductor projects.

The probe, which is scheduled to last for three months, with a possible extension under special circumstances, will also look into the US Chips and Science Act and related rules that restrict relevant companies and individuals from conducting economic, trade, and investment activities in related fields in China.

Moreover, it will cover the US government’s recent warnings of potential risks of using China’s advanced computing ICs, including Huawei Technologies’ Ascend chips, and possible consequences of allowing US chips to be used for training and inference of Chinese AI models.

China will take corresponding measures against the US based on the actual situation following the probe, the spokesperson said, adding that the country will take all necessary measures to defend the legitimate rights and interests of Chinese enterprises.

The Chinese and US delegations have convened in Madrid, Spain, to hold talks on economic and trade issues, such as the US unilateral tariff measures, the abuse of export controls, and ByteDance’s short-video platform TikTok, from yesterday to Sept. 17, Xinhua reported.

Editors: Dou Shicong, Futura Costaglione