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US eases restrictions on chip exports to China

Jul 3, 2025, 6:21am EDT
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A semiconductor.
Florence Lo/Illustration/File Photo/Reuters

The US lifted some restrictions on the export of chip-design software to China, a sign of further easing in trade tensions between the two superpowers.

Washington told a major software provider that it no longer had to apply for licenses to do business in China. The measures were imposed after Beijing limited shipments of rare-earth minerals to the US, itself a response to Washington’s tariffs and semiconductor export controls.

China and the US are implementing a deal to ease flows of vital materials and technologies after a months-long trade war, Bloomberg reported, and years of the US attempting to stifle China’s chipmaking and artificial intelligence ambitions, which Washington sees as a security threat.

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