YMTC, the Company that Would Not Die
In December 2022 the Biden administration placed Wuhan-based memory-chip maker Yangtze Memory Technologies Corp on a sanctions list, banning it from buying U.S. chip-making equipment or employing American citizens. YMTC survived and thrived by pioneering its own technological innovations, at least one of which was later licensed to Samsung, and by buying chip-making equipment from Dutch and Japanese suppliers instead. Dutch exports of chip-making equipment to Hubei in 2023 surged by a factor of four compared with 2022, prompting a White House official to call the ban 'a handout' to ASML and Tokyo Electron.
Why it matters: The case illustrates the theme of export controls, as sanctions on a Chinese chipmaker redirected its procurement to Dutch and Japanese suppliers.