New rules for chip origin identification are released, and channel dealers say many US chip companies have suspended quotations for new orders
On April 11, the China Semiconductor Industry Association issued an urgent notice on the rules for determining the "origin" of semiconductor products. The origin of "integrated circuits" is determined according to the principle of changing the four-digit tariff number, that is, the place of tape-out is determined as the origin. This means that some semiconductor products produced in the United States may increase in price due to tariffs. A chip channel dealer told reporters, "In the past, people may have determined the origin by looking at the product label, but the definition is not that strict. In addition, because most of the packaging and testing capacity is in Southeast Asia, the industry originally believed that the impact of tariffs would not be very large. However, if it is determined to be the tape-out link, it means that chips manufactured by American wafer fabs will be subject to high tariffs, such as TI Texas Instruments, Intel, etc. In the short term, the demand for analog chips of related companies will shift to China." A chip channel dealer told reporters, "Many American chip companies have suspended quotations for new orders, and everyone is also evaluating the impact."