Commerce Letter Orders TSMC to Halt Certain China Shipments, Report Says

The Commerce Department sent a letter to Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company ordering it to stop shipments of advanced semiconductors to certain Chinese customers, including 7 nanometer chips or others of “more advanced designs,” Reuters reported Nov. 9. The letter specifically orders TSMC to stop shipments, beginning Nov. 11, destined for Chinese customers of chips that power artificial intelligence accelerator and graphics processing units, the report said.

The report comes as the Bureau of Industry and Security looks into whether TSMC violated U.S. export controls on Huawei (see 2410230019 and 2410240011) and after other reports said TSMC was expected to suspend certain sales to Chinese customers (see 2411080003).

A TSMC spokesperson declined to comment on those sales but said it’s committed to complying with all “applicable” export controls. A BIS spokesperson declined to comment.