Senator Calls for Banning Software Exports to China’s Brite Semiconductor

Sen. Marco Rubio, R-Fla., is urging the Commerce Department to block exports of chip design software to China’s Brite Semiconductor, which reportedly offers chip design services to six Chinese military suppliers (see 2312130020).

In a Dec. 20 letter to Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo, Rubio wrote that "Brite is little more than a sock puppet" for the Chinese Communist Party and that “swift action is needed now to prevent China’s chip industrial base from growing stronger.”

Rubio noted that a 19% equity stake in Brite is owned by China’s Semiconductor Manufacturing International Corp. (SMIC), which “has been blacklisted or otherwise sanctioned by no fewer than three U.S. departments.”

Rubio added that blacklisting alone is insufficient and must be paired with strict enforcement. “So I further urge you to rescind and/or deny export licenses to blacklisted entities, such as SMIC,” he told Raimondo. “Finally, I urge you to expand the list of restricted [electronic design assistance] software so that it includes tools that Chinese firms rely on today -- not just tools they may require at some indeterminate date in the future.”

Commerce declined to comment on Rubio’s letter. “The department has received the senator’s letter and will reply through appropriate channels,” a Commerce spokesperson said. Brite did not respond to a request for comment.

In a September letter to the Bureau of Industry and Security, 10 House Republicans complained that BIS has continued to grant licenses to SMIC and other Chinese companies despite congressional calls for stricter policies (see 2309150020). A report released by China analysts James Mulvenon and Joseph McReynolds in October said that U.S. export controls have not impeded SMIC (see 2310060062).