2023-08-10 06:35:54
The decision, resulting from a decree signed by President Joe Biden, must make it possible to “defend American national security”. The text “seriously disrupts the security of global industrial and supply chains”, denounced Beijing.
American companies will no longer be able to freely invest abroad in the most advanced technologies, first and foremost artificial intelligence (AI) or quantum computing, if this concerns “problematic countries“Citing China in particular, the Treasury Department announced on Wednesday August 9 in a press release. The decision, resulting from an executive order signed by President Joe Biden, should allow “defend America’s national security by protecting critical technologies from the next generation of military innovations“, specified the Treasury, which also underlines the aspect “strictly limitedof the decree in order tomaintain our commitment to cross-border investments».
A decision that is not to the liking of Beijing, which sent a protest “solemn” through diplomatic channels in Washington. “China is extremely unhappy and strongly opposes the United States’ insistence on introducing restrictions on investment in China”a Foreign Ministry spokesperson said in a statement.
The new decreeseriously disrupts the security of global industrial and supply chains“, denounced Beijing. The text “seriously deviates from the principles of market economy and fair competition that the United States has always promoted, and affects normal business decisions, harms the international trade order, and seriously disrupts the security of industrial chains and global supply chain“, Criticized in a press release a spokesperson for the Chinese Ministry of Commerce.
Read alsoChina goes into deflation for the first time since 2021
Fear of administration
Concretely, the new rules require American companies and individuals to inform the administration for certain types of transactions and purely and simply prohibit others when they involve “entities related to the advanced technologies identified in the decree». «China assumes its will to acquire and produce essential key technologies that can help modernize its army, this decree aims precisely to limit American investments in the companies involved in this effort.“, explained during a telephone press conference a Biden government official.
The administration’s fear is that China will benefit from American investments not only in terms of technology transfer but also via “intangible benefits», such as support in setting up production lines, exchanges of knowledge and access to markets. “At the last G7 summit, leaders underscored our common interest in appropriately protecting sensitive technologies with national security implications, and the value of controlling investments in this area“, we added from the same source.
However, the decree should not concern certain types of transactions, as long as they concern listed companies or branches of American companies. “It’s a big step forward“, estimated Nicholas Lardy, researcher for the PIIE, interviewed by AFP, “because it is no longer just a question of restrictions on exports but now also on capital, which has not happened so far».
“Reduce long-term investments”
But he believes that if the United States seeks alone to “cut funding from private investment funds or from venture capital», the effect could ultimately be limited? In addition, while the volume of transactions and their total amount affected by these restrictions could ultimately be very small, the real impact of this decision could be wider, believes for her part Emily Benson, director of project on commerce and technologies. for CSIS.
«It is possible that, even if they are not directly affected by the bans, some companies could think twice about the type of investments they could make, which could reduce two-way investments in the long term.“, she added, questioned by AFP.
This new decision is a further step in American attempts to prevent China from reducing the technological gap that currently exists between the two superpowers. Last October, the United States announced that it would strengthen export controls on high-end semiconductors to China.used in military applications“. The Netherlands and Japan, also producers of semiconductors, followed in the footsteps of the United States last March, with China responding in turn by announcing restrictions on exports of certain products, including the rare metals necessary for the manufacture of semiconductors.
On a visit to China last July, Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen stressed the desire to have precise and targeted measures and not with the aim of completely decoupling the economies of the two main world powers. “I recalled that our measures are very targeted and centered on a few sectors for which we have fears in terms of national security“, had then declared Mrs. Yellen, who recalled at the same time as the objective “is not to cause a complete disruption of investmentsAmericans in China.
#Washington #prevents #American #companies #investing #China #Beijing #protests