New report shows US chip industry's reliance on China
A new report found that more than 5% of equipment and materials supplied to US chipmakers originate in China, and that China holds some 90% of the rare earths needed to manufacture semiconductors. Brookings AI specialist Kyle Chan told The Washington Post that US tech and China are deeply intertwined. The report also notes that the US tech startup ecosystem relies on cheaper, open-source Chinese AI, and that nearly 300 US firms spoke out when the Trump administration considered banning it.
Why it matters: It documents the supply-chain dependency dimension of US-China technology decoupling, where materials, rare earths and open-source software all sit on the Chinese side of the divide.