SIA News Roundup - Semiconductor Industry Association

SIA News Roundup - Semiconductor Industry Association WSTS Login Contact SIA News Roundup The SIA News Roundup is sent out each Friday compiling relevant clips from the week. You can sign up to receive the SIA News Roundup here February 26, 2026: James Redstone Joins SIA as Director of Government Affairs SIA NEWS James Redstone Joins SIA as Director of Government Affairs Press Release “Semiconductors are propelling an unprecedented era of technological progress, and sound government policies are essential to promoting continued growth and innovation in our industry and across the economy,” said John Neuffer, SIA president and CEO. “James has substantial experience advancing policies of importance to our sector, making him a strong advocate for SIA in Washington. We’re excited to welcome him to the team.” INDUSTRY/MARKET Downtown has some ideas for Trump on affordability Politico Influence Newsletter FLY-IN SZN: Executives and other representatives from members of the Semiconductor Industry Association were also on the Hill today. The industry had 75 meetings on the books with members and staff from personal offices and leaders of key congressional committees to discuss a range of issues, including research and development incentives for chip manufacturing, taxes, export controls, supply chains, trade , workforce development, immigration and energy. South Korea’s Early Exports Surge as AI Boom Fuels Chip Demand Bloomberg South Korea’s exports extended their growth momentum in early February, driven by resilient semiconductor demand even as trade uncertainty persists over US tariff policy. Semiconductor exports climbed 134%, extending solid gains driven by investment in artificial intelligence and data centers. The performance suggests Korea’s export engine remains supported by the global AI cycle, cushioning weakness in other sectors. CHINA Exclusive: Rare earth shortages worsen in US aerospace, chips despite trade truce, sources say Reuters Suppliers to U.S. aerospace and semiconductor firms face worsening rare earth shortages, with two turning away some clients, industry insiders said, weeks before U.S. President Donald Trump is expected to meet his Chinese counterpart Xi Jinping for a summit in Beijing. The shortages center on rare earths such as yttrium and scandium, niche members of the family of 17 elements, which play tiny but vital roles in defence technology, aerospace and semiconductors and are almost entirely produced in China. Why SJ Semiconductor matters in China’s race to build home-grown AI chips South China Morning Post SJ Semiconductor, a key player in China’s advanced chip packaging sector, has received approval to list on Shanghai’s Nasdaq-style Star Market on Tuesday, marking a fresh step in the country’s push for semiconductor self-reliance amid US restrictions. Its planned initial public offering (IPO) marks a significant milestone for China’s chipmaking industry, as Beijing pivots towards the high-stakes field of advanced packaging. TRADE Trump signals new tariffs plan. Here’s how Section 122 works Axios After the Supreme Court’s shock decision on tariffs Friday, President Trump quickly pivoted to another trade law: Section 122 of the Trade Act of 1974. The global break from President Trump’s tariffs will only be temporary. For months, top Trump officials said they had a “Plan B” if the highest court blocked their signature economic policy — which could leave hefty import taxes on foreign consumer goods essentially intact. The European Union Hits Pause on Its U.S. Trade Deal New York Times European Union officials said on Monday that they were pausing work toward implementing their trade deal with the United States, as they try to understand what President Trump will do after a pivotal Supreme Court ruling. Last week, the Supreme Court struck down Mr. Trump’s sweeping tariffs, which he had used to reset trading relationships around the globe — including with the European Union, which had negotiated for a 15 percent rate in a deal last year. RESEARCH/TECHNOLOGY Alloy-engineered valleytronics: Microscopic mechanism gives scientists precise control over how excitons behave Phys.org Scientists have observed a new microscopic mechanism enabling precise control of the magneto-optical properties of excitons in alloys of two-dimensional semiconductors. This discovery opens up tangible prospects for technological applications in devices exploiting valleytronics. The research findings were published in the journal Physical Review Letters. A robust new telecom qubit identified in silicon Phys.org Quantum technologies are anticipated to transform computing, communication, and sensing by harnessing the unusual behavior of matter at the atomic scale. In a new study, researchers in UC Santa Barbara materials professor Chris Van de Walle’s Computational Materials Group identified a robust new qubit in silicon, called the CN center. The work is published in the journal Physical Review B. February 13, 2026: NIST awards $3.2M to 8 small businesses to advance key technologies INDUSTRY/MARKET NIST awards $3.2M to 8 small businesses to advance key technologies Manufacturing Dive The U.S. Department of Commerce’s National Institute of Standards and Technology Feb. 10 announced awards totaling $3.19 million to eight small businesses in seven states under the Small Business Innovation Research program. The winning projects were competitively selected in September 2025 following a call for innovative proposals that address technical needs related to NIST’s research areas, the agency said in a press release. These categories align with NIST’s Strategy for American Technology Leadership, focusing on driving new critical and emerging technologies in the U.S. These include AI, biotechnology and semiconductors, among others. Taiwan says 40% shift of chip capacity to US is ‘impossible’ Reuters It would be “impossible” to move 40% of Taiwan’s semiconductor capacity to the U.S., the island’s top tariff negotiator said, pushing back against recent comments by American officials who called for a major production shift. In an interview with Taiwanese television channel CTS that was broadcast late on Sunday, Taiwan Vice Premier Cheng Li-chiun said she had made it clear to Washington that Taiwan’s semiconductor ecosystem, built up over decades, could not be relocated. CHINA Dutch court orders investigation into chipmaker Nexperia and upholds Chinese CEO’s suspension Associated Press A Dutch court on Wednesday ordered a formal investigation into chipmaker Nexperia and upheld an earlier order suspending its Chinese CEO, citing doubts about the company’s policies and conduct. The written decision by the Enterprise Chamber of the Amsterdam Court of Appeal is the latest step in a saga swirling around the Dutch-based semiconductor company that sent shock waves through the global auto industry. SMIC to add wafer capacity to meet strong chip demand, warns of margin hit Reuters China’s largest contract chipmaker, Semiconductor Manufacturing International Corp, warned of margin pressure this year as it expects a surge in depreciation costs due to a massive capacity expansion to meet strong demand for chips. The company’s Hong Kong-listed shares dropped nearly 4% on Wednesday after the company said it expected flat revenue growth in the current quarter from the previous quarter and warned of a 30% jump in depreciation costs this year. TRADE US and Taiwan sign trade agreement to seal chip investment Financial Times The US and Taiwan have agreed to reduce tariffs on a range of food imports and other products as they officially signed a trade agreement on Thursday. Donald Trump last week announced that the US would slash tariffs on Taiwan to 15 per cent in exchange for a $250bn investment in the US chip industry, as Washington moves to secure semiconductor supply chains and boost investment in American manufacturing. The move brings duties on Taiwanese products in line with those levied on Japan and South Korea, and comes with a US promise to waive tariffs on generic drugs, aerospace parts and natural resources unavailable in the US. EU Parliament reaches deal on US trade pact Politico The European Parliament’s top trade lawmakers on Tuesday agreed a common position on the EU-U.S. trade deal, in a move that will be met with relief both in Washington and in Brussels. The agreement, struck by the centrist groups in the chamber, comes after weeks of wrangling between European lawmakers over whether to attach new strings to the deal struck by President Donald Trump and European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen last summer. South Korea parliament forms committee to fast-track US investment legislation Reuters South Korea’s parliament voted on Monday to form a special committee to accelerate legislation tied to Seoul’s $350 billion investment commitments in the United States under a trade agreement between the countries. The committee’s launch follows U.S. President Donald Trump’s abrupt announcement in late January that tariffs on South Korean autos, pharmaceuticals, lumber and other goods would be raised back to 25% from 15%, accusing Seoul of failing to legislate a trade deal agreed last year. RESEARCH/TECHNOLOGY Carbon nanotube ‘sandpaper’ polishes semiconductor surfaces down to a few atoms Phys.org A research team led by Professor Sanha Kim of the Department of Mechanical Engineering has developed a “nano sandpaper” that utilizes carbon nanotubes—tens of thousands of times thinner than a human hair—as abrasive materials. This technology enables more precise surface processing than existing semiconductor manufacturing processes, while also reducing environmental burdens generated during fabrication, presenting a new planarization technique. Capturing the instant of electrical switching to pave the way for faster memory Phys.org As artificial intelligence advances, computers demand faster and more efficient memory. The key to ultra-high-speed, low-power semiconductors lies in the “switching” principle—the mechanism by which memory materials turn electricity on and off. A South Korean research team has successfully captured the elusive moment of switching and its internal operational principles by momentarily melting and freezing materials within nano-devices—phenomena that were previously difficult to observe. February 6, 2026: Global Annual Semiconductor Sales Increase 25.6% to $791.7 Billion in 2025 SIA NEWS Global Annual Semiconductor Sales Increase 25.6% to $791.7 Billion in 2025 Press Release “The global semiconductor industry posted its highest-ever annual sales in 2025, nearly hitting $800 billion, and global sales in 2026 are projected to reach roughly $1 trillion,” said John Neuffer, SIA president and CEO. “Semiconductors are the foundation of nearly all modern technology, and emerging technologies like AI, IoT, 6G, autonomous driving, and others will continue to drive robust demand for chips.” INDUSTRY/MARKET Nvidia-Led Boom Set to Turn Chips Into Trillion-Dollar Industry Bloomberg “When we have growth in our sector, it means exponential benefits in other sectors,” Neuffer said in an interview. “Our technology is foundational for pretty much every critical strategic industry. It’s a pretty good fundamental sign.” The market is hitting the $1 trillion milestone much faster than originally anticipated — something that bodes well for the business world at large, according to SIA Chief Executive Officer John Neuffer. Global chip sales expected to hit $1 trillion this year, industry group says Reuters The group, which represents most U.S. chip firms, said that chip sales hit $791.7 billion in 2025, an increase of 25.6% over the previous year. “The refrain I heard was, ‘No one knows what’s going to happen with the AI build out a year from now, but my orders are completely full,'” Neuffer told Reuters. “At least for the next year, we’re on a pretty, pretty strong glide path.” S. Korea’s Export Momentum Grows on Robust Semiconductor Demand Bloomberg South Korea’s exports extended their growth streak in January, underpinned by robust semiconductor demand and an increase in the number of working days from a year earlier because of the effects of a favorable calendar. Semiconductor exports remained the driving force of the increase, advancing 103% amid continued investment tied to artificial intelligence and data-center expansion. CHINA China’s Wingtech, owner of Nexperia, expects wider loss amid row over Dutch chipmaker South China Morning News Wingtech Technology, the Chinese owner of chipmaker Nexperia, is expected to post a loss of between 9 billion yuan (US$1.3 billion) and 13.5 billion yuan in 2025, owing to the Dutch government’s takeover of the semiconductor firm, the Shanghai-listed company said in a statement on Friday. Wingtech said that its authority over the chipmaker continues to be “temporarily restricted” since the October 7 ruling of the Dutch Enterprise Chamber, a special division of the Amsterdam Court of Appeal, remained in place, despite the government’s suspension of its September 30 order to seize control of Nexperia. US proposes critical minerals trade bloc aimed at countering China Reuters U.S. Vice President JD Vance on Wednesday unveiled plans to marshal allies into a preferential trade bloc for critical minerals, proposing coordinated price floors as Washington escalates efforts to loosen China’s grip on materials crucial to advanced manufacturing. China has wielded its chokehold on the processing of many minerals as geo-economic leverage, at times curbing exports, suppressing prices and undercutting other countries’ ability to diversify sources of the materials used to make semiconductors, electric vehicles and advanced weapons. TRADE Hope and uncertainty as India and US strike long-delayed trade deal BBC US President Donald Trump’s decision to lower reciprocal tariffs on India from 50% to 18% has been met with a sense of relief in Asia’s third-largest economy, even as precise details on the agreement remain sketchy. India paid the highest tariffs in the world after Trump raised import duties on Indian goods from 25% to 50% in August last year, saying Delhi’s purchase of discounted Russian oil was helping fund Moscow’s war effort in Ukraine. EU Unfreezes US Trade Deal After Trump’s Greenland U-Turn Bloomberg The European Parliament has agreed to restart the ratification process of a frozen trade deal with the US after President Donald Trump walked back his threats to seize Greenland. EU lawmakers on the trade committee made the move on Wednesday, rescheduling a canceled committee vote to adopt the European Union’s trade pact with the US, which was struck last summer but never fully implemented. The vote could take place on Feb. 24, committee chair Bernd Lange said on X. RESEARCH/TECHNOLOGY Hard-to-synthesize materials revived using AI: An LLM-based materials redesign technology Phys.org A research team led by Prof. Yousung Jung of the Department of Chemical and Biological Engineering at Seoul National University (SNU) has developed an innovative AI-based technology that uses large language models (LLMs) to redesign new materials that were previously difficult to synthesize into forms that are experimentally feasible. Real-time view inside microreactor reveals 2D semiconductor growth secrets Phys.org As the miniaturization of silicon-based semiconductor devices approaches fundamental physical limits, the electronics industry faces an urgent need for alternative materials that can deliver higher integration and lower power consumption. A research team led by Research Associate Professor Hiroo Suzuki from the Department of Electrical and Communication Engineering at Okayama University, Japan, together with Dr. Kaoru Hisama from Shinshu University and Dr. Shun Fujii from Keio University, has now overcome a key barrier by directly observing how these materials grow at the atomic scale. January 30, 2026: John Neuffer to Retire as SIA President and CEO SIA NEWS John Neuffer to Retire as SIA President and CEO Press Release “It has been a genuine pleasure and an indelible point of pride for me to work alongside so many great leaders in this incredible industry and to play a part in advancing U.S. semiconductor leadership,” said Neuffer. “The challenges we face as an industry are dwarfed by the many opportunities that lie ahead, and I can’t wait to see what’s next. I will miss very much the high-performing team of dedicated professionals at SIA.” INDUSTRY/MARKET US to Seek Rare Earth Price Mechanism During Meetings With Allies, Official Says Bloomberg The US will seek to reach consensus with allies on a pricing mechanism to help insulate rare earth mineral refiners and extractors during meetings with dozens of foreign ministers in Washington next week, a senior Trump administration official said. Trump Administration Takes Another Stake in Rare Earth Sector New York Times The Trump administration announced on Monday that it had agreed to extend up to $277 million in direct funding and up to $1.3 billion in loans to USA Rare Earth Inc., a mining and manufacturing group, to help develop its supply chain for rare earth metals and magnets. CHINA China AI Hardware Firms Trump Internet Giants in Growth Outlook Bloomberg Earnings estimates for China’s broader information technology firms have been outpacing the country’s biggest consumer-internet names, with a record-high divide that has been growing for two years. With the continued artificial intelligence boom and Beijing’s emphasis on technological self-reliance in its five-year economic blueprint, AI hardware-focused companies are driving upward revisions in the IT sector. Opinion: Steadfast state support is key to China winning tech race with US South China Morning Post In the science and tech race, China is steadily advancing while America is retreating. That’s the conclusion of multiple Western studies. Several salient features in this race for supremacy have been identified: China’s highly focused state support of science and tech, America’s federal defunding of them, and a nation of engineers and science graduates versus a nation of lawyers. TRADE US, Mexico agree to begin talks on USMCA reforms, timing unclear Reuters U.S. Trade Representative Jamieson Greer and Mexican Secretary of Economy Marcelo Ebrard agreed on Wednesday to begin formal discussions on possible reforms to the United States-Mexico-Canada trade agreement, Greer’s office said. Carney downplays Trump’s threats while ruling out China trade deal Politico Prime Minister Mark Carney on Monday said it’s “obvious” Ottawa is not in free-trade talks with Beijing, acknowledging that any move in that direction would jeopardize Canada’s trade relationship with Washington. “The president is a strong negotiator,” Carney said when asked to respond to President Donald Trump’s latest volley of attacks, reprising the nickname “Governor” previously used to mock Justin Trudeau. Exclusive: EU, Vietnam to agree to boost work on minerals, chips, “trusted” 5G, draft document says Reuters The European Union and Vietnam want to boost trade and investment in critical minerals, semiconductors and infrastructure, according to a draft joint statement seen by Reuters that is set to be adopted on Thursday as the two sides upgrade diplomatic relations. The eight-page document, still subject to change, says the EU will also explore the possible transfer of defence technology to Hanoi, as both sides seek closer cooperation on “trusted” telecom networks – at a time when Chinese companies have won contracts in Vietnam’s 5G development. Vowing Higher Tariffs, Trump Rattles South Korea Months After Trade Deal New York Times South Koreans got a fresh reminder of President Trump’s unpredictability when they woke up on Tuesday morning to see that he was increasing tariffs on South Korean exports, like cars, back to 25 percent. Only recently it seemed that South Korea had resolved its worst trade dispute with the United States, its only treaty ally. RESEARCH/TECHNOLOGY DNA origami enables precise patterning of molecules on 2D semiconductors Phys.org Skoltech researchers and their colleagues from Ludwig Maximilian University of Munich, Germany, Nanjing University of China, and the National Institute for Materials Science of Japan have developed a method for depositing organic molecules on a two-dimensional semiconductor in a highly controlled manner. In this proof-of-concept study, the technique uses self-assembled DNA origami nanostructures to carry organic dye molecules in a predefined pattern covered by a 2D semiconductor. Edison’s 1879 bulb experiments may have unintentionally produced graphene Phys.org What do Thomas Edison and 2010 Nobel Prize in physics winners Konstantin Novoselov and Andre Geim have in common? According to a recent publication from the lab of Rice University’s James Tour in ACS Nano, it could be graphene—an answer that might have confused Edison, who died almost 20 years before physicist P.R. Wallace proposed such a substance could exist and nearly 80 years before Novoselov and Geim were awarded a Nobel Prize for isolating and characterizing it. January 23, 2026: South Korea's Lee, Italy's Meloni agree to strengthen cooperation in AI, chips INDUSTRY/MARKET South Korea’s Lee, Italy’s Meloni agree to strengthen cooperation in AI, chips Reuters South Korean President Lee Jae Myung and Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni agreed on Monday to expand cooperation in sectors such as artificial intelligence, aerospace, chips and critical minerals, according to the Blue House. Meloni is visiting South Korea for summit talks with Lee. CHINA Canada Breaks With U.S. to Slash Tariffs on Some Chinese Electric Vehicles New York Times Canada will lower tariffs on some Chinese electric vehicles and China will do the same for Canadian canola products, a major shift in policy that was announced on Friday during a landmark state visit by Prime Minister Mark Carney of Canada to Beijing. Mr. Carney announced that Canada will allow up to 49,000 Chinese electric vehicles into the Canadian market under a preferential tariff rate of 6.1 percent. EU plan to phase-out high-risk tech draws fire from China’s Huawei Reuters The EU plans to phase out components and equipment from high-risk suppliers in critical sectors, according to a draft proposal released by Brussels on Tuesday – a move criticised by China’s Huawei, which is set to be among the companies affected. The measures, set out by the European Commission in revisions to the EU’s Cybersecurity Act, follow a rise in cyber and ransomware attacks and growing concerns over foreign interference, espionage and Europe’s reliance on non-EU technology suppliers. TRADE EU suspends approval of US trade deal BBC The European Parliament has suspended the approval of a key US trade deal agreed in July in protest against Donald Trump’s demand to take over Greenland. The suspension was announced in Strasbourg, France, on Wednesday, as the US president addressed the World Economic Forum in Davos. As Europe Tries to Diversify Trade, a Major Deal With South America Stumbles New York Times The European Parliament voted on Wednesday to delay a major trade deal between the European Union and four South American countries, a setback to efforts to diversify trade relationships as President Trump threatens a new round of escalating U.S. tariffs on goods from several countries on the continent. The European Union’s legislative arm voted by a slim margin to refer the pact with Brazil, Argentina, Paraguay and Uruguay, which form the trade bloc known as Mercosur, to the European Court of Justice to examine whether it is compatible with the bloc’s existing treaties. South Korea to negotiate with the US for favourable chip tariff terms, official says Reuters South Korea will seek favourable terms for U.S. tariffs on imports of memory chips, a presidential office spokesperson said at a televised briefing on Sunday. The country last year released a joint fact sheet on its trade deal with the U.S. that included terms ensuring South Korea will not receive unfavourable treatment from U.S. tariffs on imported chips compared to key competitors, the official said, when asked about the Trump administration’s proclamation imposing tariffs on artificial intelligence chips. RESEARCH/TECHNOLOGY Ultrafast light switches use atomically thin semiconductors for rapid optical control Phys.org A nanostructure made of silver and an atomically thin semiconductor layer can be turned into an ultrafast switching mirror device that may function as an optical transistor—with a switching speed around 10,000 times faster than an electronic transistor. An international team of researchers led by University of Oldenburg physicist Professor Dr. Christoph Lienau describes this effect in a paper published in Nature Nanotechnology. Ultrafast spectroscopy reveals step-by-step energy flow in germanium semiconductors Phys.org Detailed knowledge of the mechanisms of energy loss and potential overheating is essential in order to design new materials and devices that heat up less, recover faster or respond to external excitation more precisely. A team led by Professor Ilaria Zardo from the University of Basel reports on the unprecedented accuracy they achieved in measurements of energy flow processes within the semiconductor germanium, which is frequently used in computer technology. Their paper is published in Advanced Science. January 16, 2026: Global Semiconductor Sales Increase 29.8% Year-to-Year in November SIA NEWS Global Semiconductor Sales Increase 29.8% Year-to-Year in November Press Release “The global semiconductor industry posted its highest-ever monthly sales total in November, with demand increasing across all major product categories on a month-to-month basis,” said John Neuffer, SIA president and CEO. “Looking ahead, the global chip market is projected to grow substantially in 2026, reaching nearly $1 trillion in annual sales.” INDUSTRY/MARKET Trump Imposes Limited Tariffs on Foreign Semiconductors New York Times President Trump signed a proclamation on Wednesday to impose a 25 percent tariff on a narrow list of foreign semiconductors, providing a way for the government to earn revenue off the sale of lucrative chips used in artificial intelligence. The tariff, which would take effect Thursday, is far more limited than what the president initially threatened. Micron to break ground on $100bn New York megafab, largest semiconductor project in U.S. history The Manufacturer Micron Technology will today break ground on what it describes as the largest semiconductor manufacturing facility ever built in the United States, marking a major milestone for domestic chip production and New York state’s economy. The memory manufacturer is set to begin construction on its planned megafab in Onondaga County, Central New York, following the completion of environmental reviews and the receipt of key permits. CHINA China AI Leaders Warn of Widening Gap With US After $1B IPO Week Bloomberg Some of China’s most prominent figures in generative artificial intelligence warned that the Asian nation is unlikely to eclipse the US in the global AI race anytime soon. Justin Lin, head of Alibaba Group Holding Ltd.’s Qwen series of open-source models, put at less than 20% the chances of any Chinese company leapfrogging the likes of OpenAI and Anthropic with fundamental breakthroughs over the next three to five years. China Is Investigating Meta’s Latest A.I. Acquisition New York Times China is investigating whether Meta’s acquisition of the artificial intelligence start-up Manus violated its laws on technology exports and outbound investment. Those rules say the Chinese government must approve the export of certain technologies, including interactive A.I. systems. We must identify problems before they occur Handelsblatt BMW’s new head of purchasing, Nicolai Martin, wants to use more Chinese products. He is aware that this means overlooking geopolitical risks and going against the trend. Nicolai Martin knows the disadvantages of dependence on China. The new head of purchasing at the Munich-based automaker BMW had been part of the management team for less than six months when the Nexperia crisis broke out. TRADE Taiwan hails its ‘best’ trade deal with US, as China protests Associated Press Taiwan’s premier on Friday hailed a new trade deal with the United States as the “best tariff deal” enjoyed by countries with trade surpluses with Washington, as meanwhile a Chinese official in Beijing condemned the accord. The agreement cuts U.S. tariffs on Taiwanese goods to 15% in exchange for $250 billion in new investments in the U.S. tech industry. EU assembly weighs freezing US trade deal over Trump’s Greenland threats Reuters The European Parliament is considering putting on hold the European Union’s implementation of the trade deal struck with the United States in protest over threats by U.S. President Donald Trump to seize Greenland. The European Parliament has been debating legislative proposals to remove many of the EU’s import duties on U.S. goods – the bulk of the trade deal with the U.S. – and to continue zero duties for U.S. lobsters, initially agreed with Trump in 2020. It was due to set its position in votes on January 26-27, which the MEPs said should now be postponed. EU reaches South America trade deal after 25 years of talks BBC The EU has reached a free trade agreement with South American countries, 25 years after talks began and despite opposition from farmers in several European countries. The deal with the Mercosur trading bloc – which includes Brazil, Argentina, Paraguay and Uruguay – will require the approval of the European parliament within the next few months RESEARCH/TECHNOLOGY Atomic-level surface control boosts brightness of eco-friendly nanosemiconductors by 18-fold Phys.org A KAIST research team led by Professor Himchan Cho of the Department of Materials Science and Engineering has developed a fundamental technology to control, at the atomic level, the surface of indium phosphide (InP) magic-sized clusters (MSCs)—nanoscale semiconductor particles regarded as next-generation eco-friendly semiconductor materials. Taming heat: Novel solution enables unprecedented control of heat conduction Phys.org Prof. Gal Shmuel of the Faculty of Mechanical Engineering at the Technion—Israel Institute of Technology has developed an innovative approach that enables precise control of heat conduction in ways that do not occur naturally. The breakthrough could lead to new applications in energy harvesting and in protecting heat-sensitive devices. December 19, 2025: SIA Supports U.S. State Department’s Pax Silica Initiative SIA NEWS SIA Supports U.S. State Department’s Pax Silica Initiative Press Release “The U.S. State Department’s Pax Silica initiative represents a strong and welcome commitment to deepening economic partnerships to secure supply chains critical to semiconductors, AI, and other key technologies. We look forward to working with policymakers in the U.S. and partner governments to advance this timely and important effort.” INDUSTRY/MARKET Data centers have a political problem — and Big Tech wants to fix it Politico Tech companies and lobbyists are investing millions of dollars to tackle a new political problem for the industry: Data centers, the lifeblood of the growing artificial intelligence economy, are becoming toxic with voters. Alarmed by elections that candidates won by campaigning against new data centers, the industry is taking out ads and funding campaigns to flip the narrative and put data centers in a positive light — spinning them as job creators and economic drivers rather than resource-hungry land hogs. CHINA China and Saudi Arabia pledge deeper hi-tech cooperation despite US pressure South China Morning Post Saudi Arabia has pledged to deepen hi-tech cooperation with China in areas such as new energy and artificial intelligence (AI). “Saudi Arabia is willing to further deepen cooperation with China in areas including oil and gas, new energy, artificial intelligence and high technology, to bring greater benefits to the peoples of both countries,” Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman said, according to China’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs. China convicts 27 people for smuggling 166 tons of critical chipmaking element antimony — heavily-restricted mineral used for semiconductor manufacturing exported without licenses, court decides Tom’s Hardware A court in China has convicted 27 people for illegal shipment of antimony ingots out of the country without mandatory export licenses. The ruling was delivered by the Shenzhen Intermediate People’s Court, which sentenced the main defendant, Wang Wubin, to 12 years in prison and a fine of 1 million Yuan ($141,899). ByteDance dominates China’s tech hiring as AI talent demand surges South China Morning Post TikTok owner ByteDance is the top recruiter in China’s tech sector this year, while at the same time artificial intelligence-related job postings on the mainland have risen more than 500 per cent, according to a report by Maimai, China’s largest professional social networking platform. TRADE US suspends technology deal with the UK Financial Times The US has suspended implementation of a technology deal it struck with the UK during Donald Trump’s state visit to Britain, amid growing frustrations in Washington over the progress of trade talks with London. The US-UK “technology prosperity deal”, which was announced in September, aims to spur co-operation between the two countries in areas including artificial intelligence, quantum computing and nuclear energy. India’s exports defy tariffs, strengthen hand in US trade talks Reuters India’s exports leapt in November in defiance of U.S. President Donald Trump’s steep tariffs, providing fresh leverage in ongoing trade talks with Washington and easing pressure on New Delhi to strike a quick deal. Shipments to the United States rose more than 22% in November from a year earlier, outpacing India’s overall export growth of more than 19%, which lifted total goods exports to $38.13 billion, government trade data released on Monday showed. RESEARCH/TECHNOLOGY Predictive framework for 2D materials puts low-cost, printable electronics on the horizon Phys.org Imagine wearable health sensors, smart packaging, flexible displays, or disposable IoT controllers all manufactured like printed newspapers. The same technology could underpin communication circuits, sensors, and signal-processing components made entirely from solution-processed 2D materials. But until now, finding and developing the 2D materials that could enable such devices was largely trial and error. Integrative quantum chemistry method unlocks secrets of advanced materials Phys.org A new computational approach developed at the University of Chicago promises to shed light on some of the world’s most puzzling materials—from high-temperature superconductors to solar cell semiconductors—by uniting two long-divided scientific perspectives. December 5, 2025: Global Semiconductor Sales Increase 4.7% Month-to-Month in October SIA NEWS Global Semiconductor Sales Increase 4.7% Month-to-Month in October Press Release “Global semiconductor sales continued to increase in October, topping September’s results and far outpacing October of last year. Growth continues to be driven by sales into the Americans and Asia Pacific,” said John Neuffer, SIA president and CEO. “Meanwhile, the 2025 WSTS autumn forecast calls for record-breaking global market growth in 2025, with sales projected to approach $1 trillion in 2026.” Dr. Lisa Su, AMD Chair and CEO, Elected Chair of Semiconductor Industry Association Press Release “We are delighted to welcome Dr. Lisa Su as SIA Chair during an exciting and consequential time for the semiconductor industry,” said SIA President and CEO John Neuffer. “Lisa has pushed the boundaries of semiconductor innovation for decades and is an extremely strong and influential leader in our industry. We look forward to her leadership in the year ahead as we push for policies that promote growth and innovation in the chip sector and keep America on top in this foundational, transformative technology.” INDUSTRY/MARKET Trump administration taking $150M stake in chip startup The Hill The Trump administration plans to take a $150 million stake in xLight, a startup developing laser technology to advance semiconductor manufacturing. The Commerce Department said Monday that it has signed a nonbinding preliminary letter of intent to provide federal incentives to the startup under the CHIPS and Science Act in exchange for equity. CHINA US Moves to Deepen Minerals Supply in AI Race With China Bloomberg The US will seek agreements with eight allied nations as part of a fresh effort to strengthen supply chains for the computer chips and critical minerals needed for AI technology, according to the top State Department official for economic affairs. The initiative, which builds on efforts dating back to the first Trump administration, unfolds as the US looks to cut dependence on China. Germany’s foreign minister to visit China next week, as EU prepares to toughen up on trade Reuters German Foreign Minister Johann Wadephul will visit China from December 8 to 9, two sources familiar with his plans said, after he abruptly cancelled a planned October trip, as Beijing seeks to counter European calls to “de-risk” from the Chinese economy. China Demands Malaysia, Cambodia Clarify US Trade Deals Bloomberg China complained to Malaysia and Cambodia about the trade deals they signed with the US last month, underscoring the delicate balance countries must strike in the rivalry between Beijing and Washington. Beijing has “grave concerns” with certain portions of the US-Malaysia trade deal, Chinese Ministry of Commerce officials said in a meeting with Malaysia on Tuesday. TRADE USMCA exit signals Politico President Donald Trump is flirting with Canada’s worst-case scenario — setting the wheels in motion for the U.S. to pull out of the United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement. U.S. Trade Representative Jamieson Greer told POLITICO White House Bureau Chief Dasha Burns, the host of the weekly podcast “The Conversation,” that Trump could decide next year to withdraw from the USMCA, even though the text of the deal encourages members to remain in the agreement until at least 2036. US announces zero tariff pharmaceutical deal with Britain Reuters The United States and Britain announced a deal on Monday to securezero tariffs on British pharmaceutical products and medical technology in return for Britain spending more on medicines and overhauling how it values drugs. Under the agreement, Britain will raise the net price it pays for new U.S. medicines by 25%. RESEARCH/TECHNOLOGY Quantum technology moves from lab to life, but widespread use remains years away Phys.org Quantum technology is accelerating out of the lab and into the real world, and a new article argues that the field now stands at a turning point—one that is similar to the early computing age that preceded the rise of the transistor and modern computing. A solid-state quantum processor based on nuclear spins Phys.org Researchers at University Paris-Saclay, the Chinese University of Hong Kong and other institutes have developed a new quantum computing platform that utilizes the intrinsic angular momentum (i.e., spin) of nuclei in tungsten-183 (183W) atoms as qubits. November 14, 2025: US chip lobby urges tariff-free treatment for North American semiconductors under USMCA INDUSTRY/MARKET US chip lobby urges tariff-free treatment for North American semiconductors under USMCA Mexico News Daily The framework of the USMCA free trade pact — which will be reviewed by its three signatories in 2026 — will provide crucial support for that objective. In that context, the Semiconductor Industry Association (SIA), a Washington, D.C.-based trade and lobbying group, wrote to the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative (USTR) to comment on “specific USMCA provisions of interest to the semiconductor industry,” including the pact’s rules of origin. CHINA SMIC says worries over memory shortage prompt customers to hold back Q1 orders Reuters Semiconductor Manufacturing International Corp, China’s largest contract chipmaker, on Friday said growing worries about a shortage of memory chips are prompting its customers to hold back their orders for other types of semiconductors. “People don’t dare place too many orders for the first quarter next year,” said Zhao Haijun, SMIC’s co-CEO, during an earnings call. China exempts chips used by carmakers from export curbs BBC China has lifted export controls on computer chips vital to car production, the country’s commerce ministry said on Sunday. Exemptions have been granted to exports made by Chinese-owned Nexperia for civilian use, it said, which should help carmakers who had feared production in Europe would be hit. At the same time, China has also paused an export ban to the US of some materials that are crucial in the semiconductor industry and suspended port fees for American ships. Chinese Hackers Used Anthropic’s AI to Automate Cyberattacks Wall Street Journal China’s state-sponsored hackers used artificial-intelligence technology from Anthropic to automate break-ins of major corporations and foreign governments during a September hacking campaign, the company said Thursday. The effort focused on dozens of targets and involved a level of automation that Anthropic’s cybersecurity investigators had not previously seen, according to Jacob Klein, the company’s head of threat intelligence. TRADE EU Exports to U.S. Jump After Trade Deal Wall Street Journal European Union goods exports to the U.S. rebounded in September, reflecting the easing of uncertainty surrounding trade after a transatlantic deal on tariffs was agreed in the summer. Exports to the U.S. were up 61% on month in September to 53.09 billion euros, or $61.76 billion, Eurostat data showed Friday. Compared with the same month of last year, they were up 15.4%. Trump Readies Tariff Cuts, Trade Deals in Affordability Push Bloomberg US President Donald Trump is readying substantial tariff cuts designed to address high food prices and a series of new trade deals — including framework agreements with Argentina, Guatemala, El Salvador and Ecuador — as he seeks to address voter concerns over the cost of goods. The push comes after electoral victories for Democrats last week across a number of key state and local races where candidates stressed affordability concerns. UK, Mercosur Prepare to Launch Trade Talks Amid Tariff Chaos Bloomberg The UK and several South American nations are preparing to launch trade talks as rising tariffs disrupt global commerce and push countries to diversify their economic partnerships. Brazilian Foreign Minister Mauro Vieira and his British counterpart Yvette Cooper discussed starting formal negotiations between the UK and the trade bloc Mercosur in a meeting Tuesday, according to officials from both countries who asked not to be identified talking about a private conversation. RESEARCH/TECHNOLOGY Table salt enables new metallic nanotubes with potential for faster electronics Phys.org For the first time, researchers have made niobium sulfide metallic nanotubes with stable, predictable properties, a long-sought goal in advanced materials science. According to the international team, including a researcher at Penn State, that made the accomplishment, the new nanomaterial that could open the door to faster electronics, efficient electricity transport via superconductor wires and even future quantum computers was made possible with a surprising ingredient: table salt. Scientists make dark exciton states shine through nanotube engineering Phys.org A research team at the City University of New York and the University of Texas at Austin has discovered a way to make previously hidden states of light, known as dark excitons, shine brightly, and control their emission at the nanoscale. Their findings, published today in Nature Photonics, open the door to faster, smaller, and more energy-efficient technologies. November 7, 2025: Professors from Cornell University and University of Michigan to be Honored for Excellence in Semiconductor Research SIA NEWS Professors from Cornell University and University of Michigan to be Honored for Excellence in Semiconductor Research Press Release “Advancements in semiconductor technology underpin America’s economic strength, national security, and global leadership,” said John Neuffer, president and CEO of SIA, which represents U.S. leadership in semiconductor manufacturing, design, and research. “Research is the beating heart of our industry, fueling the innovations that power our economy and improve lives around the world. Professors Xing and Austin exemplify excellence in semiconductor research, with their cutting-edge work expanding the frontiers of chip technology and strengthening America’s role as the global innovation leader.” Global Semiconductor Sales Increase 15.8% from Q2 to Q3; Month-to-Month Sales Grow 7.0% in September Press Release “Global chip sales continued to grow in the third quarter of this year, significantly outpacing sales from Q2,” said John Neuffer, SIA president and CEO. “Market growth was driven by increased demand across a range of semiconductor products, including memory and logic. And year-to-year growth was fueled by sales into the Asia Pacific region and the Americas.” INDUSTRY/MARKET North Carolina startup Vulcan gets $1 billion for new rare-earth magnets factory Axios Vulcan Elements, a Research Triangle Park-based startup trying to re-shore the production of rare-earth magnets, said Monday it’s secured more than $1 billion in financing from the federal government and private investors to kick-start its first large-scale factory in the U.S. — one that could be in North Carolina.Vulcan, founded in 2023, has secured a $620 million loan from the Department of War (formerly the Department of Defense) to start construction on a “10,000 metric tonne magnet facility.” The U.S. Department of Commerce will also add $50 million in incentives from the CHIPS and Science Act, while also taking a $50 million equity stake in the company. CHINA White House discloses details of China trade truce Politico The Chinese government will lift export restrictions on critical minerals, cease exports of chemicals to North America required to produce fentanyl and resume the flow of key auto semiconductors, the White House said in a fact sheet Saturday. The document is the most detailed public summary of the accord reached between U.S. and Chinese negotiators and signed off by President Donald Trump and China’s leader Xi Jinping in South Korea on Thursday. How Nexperia’s China unit can meet chip orders amid European fabs’ suspended wafer supply South China Morning Post Nexperia’s China unit is expected to be capable of making deliveries to clients on the back of the domestic semiconductor supply chain – even though locking in that support could take at least six months, experts said – as the European fabrication facilities under the Dutch chipmaker’s head office continue to suspend the supply of wafers. China’s Xi pushes for global AI body at APEC in counter to US Reuters Chinese President Xi Jinping took centrestage at a meeting of APEC leaders on Saturday to push a proposal for a global body to govern artificial intelligence and position China as an alternative to the United States on trade cooperation. The comments were the first by the Chinese leader on an initiative Beijing unveiled this year, while the United States has rejected efforts to regulate AI in international bodies. TRADE Trump announces Uzbekistan trade deal after hosting Central Asian leaders The Hill President Trump late Thursday announced a new trade deal across several sectors between Uzbekistan and the United States. “Over the next three years, Uzbekistan will be purchasing and investing almost $35 Billion Dollars and, in the next 10 years, over $100 Billion Dollars, in key American Sectors, including Critical Minerals, Aviation, Automotive Parts, Infrastructure, Agriculture, Energy & Chemicals, Information Technology, and others,” Trump wrote in a post on Truth Social. Trump hints at India visit amid high-stakes trade deal talks BBC President Donald Trump said on Thursday that trade talks with India are “going good” and also hinted at a possible visit to the country next year. While speaking to reporters at a White House press briefing, Trump called Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi “a friend” and a “great man” and said India had “largely stopped buying oil from Russia”, a claim he has repeated in the past weeks. RESEARCH/TECHNOLOGY Electrified atomic vapor system enables new nanomaterial mixtures Phys.org Vapor-phase synthesis, a technique used to create very pure and scalable nanomaterials and coatings, has great promise for the electronic, optical, aerospace, energy and environment, and semiconductor industries. Now, using a form of electrified vapor under atmospheric pressure, a team led by Yale’s Liangbing Hu has developed a system that’s more versatile, quicker and cheaper. Light can reshape atom-thin semiconductors for next-generation optical devices Phys.org Rice University researchers studying a class of atom-thin semiconductors known as transition metal dichalcogenides (TMDs) have discovered that light can trigger a physical shift in their atomic lattice, creating a tunable way to adjust the materials’ behavior and properties. The effect, observed in a TMD subtype named after the two-faced Roman god of transitions, Janus, could advance technologies that use light instead of electricity, from faster and cooler computer chips to ultrasensitive sensors and flexible optoelectronic devices. October 24, 2025: Europe Auto Industry Braces for Chip Disruption Within Days INDUSTRY/MARKET Europe Auto Industry Braces for Chip Disruption Within Days Bloomberg Europe’s auto industry is preparing for production disruption within days because of China’s export restrictions on semiconductors made by Nexperia. Chip shortages are likely to hit key suppliers within a week, while the impact could spread across the entire sector within 10 to 20 days, according to people familiar with the matter, who asked not to be identified as the discussions are private. Trump’s AI exports program stumbles out of the gate Axios The Commerce Department is planning to lean heavily on industry and outside groups to shape a new AI exports program, but insiders say this week’s “chaotic” rollout has fallen short. Why it matters: Companies approved for the program created by President Trump’s executive order are promised government financial incentives that could give them an edge in the global AI race. Behind the scenes: Some industry and lobbying sources told Axios that they’re concerned with the lack of clarity and communication from the Trump administration around the AI exports program. CHINA Exclusive: Nexperia’s China unit resumes chip sales to domestic distributors, sources say Reuters Dutch chipmaker Nexperia’s Chinese unit has resumed supplying semiconductors to local distributors, according to two people briefed on the matter, having previously halted all shipments when Beijing banned exports following an ownership dispute. But as part of the resumption, which is confined to domestic trade, all sales to distributors must now be settled in Chinese yuan, the people said, whereas transactions had previously only used foreign currencies such as the U.S. dollar. German foreign minister to press China on semiconductors on Beijing trip Reuters German Foreign Minister Johann Wadephul will urge China to relax export restrictions on rare earths and semiconductors, emphasizing fair trade as a cornerstone of successful relations during his visit to Beijing starting Sunday, he told Reuters. Wadephul’s trip marks the first by a minister from the current German government, ahead of Chancellor Friedrich Merz’s planned visit later this year. TRADE Trump says trade talks with Canada ‘terminated’ over anti-tariffs advert BBC US President Donald Trump has announced an immediate end to all trade negotiations with Canada over an advert critical of the tariffs he has imposed on the nation. The advert, sponsored by the government of Canada’s province of Ontario, quoted Trump’s predecessor, Ronald Reagan, an icon of US conservatism, saying tariffs “hurt every American”. Trump wrote on social media that the advert was “FAKE” and “egregious”, adding that trade talks were “HEREBY TERMINATED”. India cautious on trade deals, says U.S. pact “very near” Reuters India will not accept limits on its trading choices or rush to sign agreements, Trade Minister Piyush Goyal said on Friday, even as a senior government official said a bilateral trade deal with Washington was “very near.” “India will not sign any trade deal in a hurry,” Goyal said during a speech at the Berlin Global Dialogue, referring to European Union and the U.S. concerns over India’s continued purchases of Russian oil. RESEARCH/TECHNOLOGY ‘Diamond blanket’ transistor cooling method delivers incredible success in testing, drops temps by 70C — micrometer-scale diamond layer grown directly on transistors reduces heat by 90% Tom’s Hardware A research team at Stanford University has engineered a new approach to handling the thermal bottleneck of RF transistor by using diamonds. By wrapping transistors in an integrated diamond layer, grown on the transistor, researchers were able to decrease chip temperatures by up to 70°C in the real world, and by 90% in simulated tests. Scientists create a new form of light matter in a quasicrystal Phys.org Researchers have for the first time created a reconfigurable polariton 2D quasicrystal. The team from the Skolkovo Institute of Science and Technology (Skoltech), in collaboration with colleagues from the University of Iceland, the University of Warsaw, and the Institute of Spectroscopy of the Russian Academy of Sciences, demonstrated that this unique state of matter exhibits long-range order and a novel type of phase synchronization, opening new pathways for research into exotic phenomena such as supersolids and superfluidity in aperiodic settings. October 17, 2025: MIT spinout Vertical Semiconductor raises $11 million for AI power chip tech INDUSTRY/MARKET MIT spinout Vertical Semiconductor raises $11 million for AI power chip tech Reuters Vertical Semiconductor, a startup spun out of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, on Wednesday said it raised $11 million in funding to commercialize chip technology that can deliver electricity to artificial intelligence servers more efficiently. Those data centers currently consume as much power as some cities. However, when converting huge voltages from power stations to the tiny voltages needed by microchips, much of that electricity simply generates heat. That has spurred a frenzy of investment and interest in reducing that loss. CHINA In rare move, Dutch government takes control of China-owned chipmaker Nexperia Reuters The Dutch government has taken control of Chinese-owned computer chipmaker Nexperia, ratcheting up tensions with Beijing as a global fight brews over technology intellectual property, especially around semiconductors. The government said late on Sunday that it has intervened in Nijmegen-headquartered Nexperia, which manufactures chips for cars and consumer electronics. It cited worries about the possible transfer of technology to Nexperia’s Chinese parent company, Wingtech. China’s new rare earth export controls will impact global chip supply chain, analysts say South China Morning Post China’s latest export controls on rare earths are expected to have a direct impact on the global semiconductor supply chain, complicating the production of AI and memory chips from major US and South Korean suppliers, according to analysts. On Thursday, China’s Ministry of Commerce imposed a raft of new export controls on rare earth materials critical for the chip manufacturing process. China’s Sicarrier unit unveils new chip design software, media reports Reuters A subsidiary of SiCarrier, a Chinese chip equipment maker with close links to Huawei (HWT.UL), unveiled two domestically developed software products for semiconductor designs, the latest move by China to reduce reliance on foreign technologies. EDA software is crucial for designing blueprints of sophisticated semiconductors. Earlier this year, the U.S. had temporarily imposed restrictions on exports to China for chip design software developers in response to China’s export suspension of rare earths and related magnets. TRADE India Speeds US Trade Talks in Bid to Reach Deal by November Bloomberg India is fast-tracking trade talks with the US with the goal of concluding negotiations by next month, people familiar with the matter said, even as New Delhi’s purchases of Russian oil remain a sticking point. New Delhi is working on a plan that would be mutually acceptable to address the issue, the people said, asking not to be identified as the matter is still private. They however did not share other details. Bessent says US expects to finalize trade deal with South Korea in next 10 days Reuters The U.S. is close to finalizing a trade deal with South Korea, Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said on Wednesday, telling reporters that he expected an announcement in the next 10 days. “We are about to finish up with Korea,” Bessent told CNBC. “The devil’s in the details, but we are ironing out the details.” Malaysia to discuss sectoral tariffs with U.S. at ASEAN summit, state media reports Reuters Malaysia will hold talks with the U.S. secretary of commerce on sectoral tariffs, including on semiconductors, during a meeting of the ASEAN regional bloc next week, Malaysian state media reported on Wednesday, citing the trade minister. President Donald Trump’s administration in August imposed a tariff of 19% on Malaysian exports to the United States, though items like semiconductors are currently exempt pending a U.S. national security probe. RESEARCH/TECHNOLOGY Scientists create nanofluidic chip with ‘brain-like’ memory pathways Phys.org Scientists at Monash University have created a tiny fluid-based chip that behaves like neural pathways of the brain, potentially opening the door to a new generation of computers. Roughly the size of a coin, the chip was built from a specially designed metal-organic framework (MOF), and channels ions through tiny pathways, mimicking the on/off switching of electronic transistors in computers. Physics-informed AI excels at large-scale discovery of new materials Phys.org A KAIST research team has introduced a new technique that combines physical laws, which govern deformation and interaction of materials and energy, with artificial intelligence. This approach allows for rapid exploration of new materials even under data-scarce conditions and provides a foundation for accelerating design and verification across multiple engineering fields, including materials, mechanics, energy, and electronics. October 10, 2025: Global Semiconductor Sales Increase 21.7% Year-to-Year in August SIA NEWS Global Semiconductor Sales Increase 21.7% Year-to-Year in August Press Release “Global semiconductor sales continued to grow in August, far exceeding sales in August of last year,” said John Neuffer, SIA president and CEO. “Sales in the Asia Pacific region and the Americas continue to drive growth, with sales of memory and logic chips notably increasing.” INDUSTRY/MARKET Malaysia says removing chip tariff exemption could harm competitiveness, U.S. supply chains Reuters Malaysia warned on Friday that any removal of tariff exemptions on its semiconductor exports by the United States could hurt its competitiveness and strain supply networks, according to a government report. President Donald Trump’s administration in August imposed a tariff of 19% on Malaysian exports to the United States, though some items including semiconductors are currently exempt pending a U.S. national security probe. Amkor expands Arizona semiconductor campus investment to $7B Manufacturing Dive Amkor Technology has broken ground on a new semiconductor packaging and testing campus in Peoria, Arizona, the company announced Monday. Construction is expected to be finished in mid-2027, and production is slated to begin in early 2028. Amkor described the Arizona site as the “first U.S. based high volume advanced packaging facility.” This week’s announcement marks a $5 billion increase from original plans to build a $2 billion facility. CHINA China outlines more controls on exports of rare earths and technology Associated Press China outlined new curbs on exports of rare earths and related technologies on Thursday, extending controls over use of the elements critical for many high-tech and military products ahead of a meeting in about three weeks between President Donald Trump and Chinese leader Xi Jinping. These critical minerals are needed in a broad range of products, from jet engines, radar systems and electric vehicles to consumer electronics including laptops and phones. China charts path to global competitiveness in chips and AI for next five-year plan South China Morning Post China aims to become a global leader in science and technology by 2035, and has identified the next five years as a critical, decisive period for breakthrough advancements towards that goal. This push comes as international competition intensifies in strategic fields such as semiconductors and artificial intelligence. At a State Council press briefing on September 18, the minister of Science and Technology, Yin Hejun, reported on China’s progress during the ongoing 14th five-year plan period (2021 to 2025). TRADE EU Sees New US Trade Demands Hollowing Out Trump Deal Bloomberg European Union officials see new US demands for concessions as well as other measures as potentially undercutting a recent agreement that brought the allies back from the brink of a trade war. Earlier this month, US President Donald Trump’s administration sent the EU a fresh proposal for implementing “reciprocal, fair and balanced” trade, according to people familiar with the matter, who spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss private deliberations. Trump wants Japan to fund his government’s ambitious spending. What’s in it for them? Politico The Trump administration has big plans for the massive pot of money promised by Japan and other countries as part of their trade deals with the United States. But the eye-popping sums, as well as the White House’s demands for near-total control of the money, are raising doubts that the funding will ever materialize. RESEARCH/TECHNOLOGY Physicists develop new quantum sensor at the atomic lattice scale Phys.org From computer chips to quantum dots—technological platforms were only made possible thanks to a detailed understanding of the used solid-state materials, such as silicon or more complex semiconductor materials. This understanding also includes being able to identify and control irregularities in the crystal lattice of such materials. Researchers from the “Integrated Quantum Photonics” group at the Department of Physics at Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin (HU) and the “Joint Lab Diamond Nanophotonics” at the Ferdinand-Braun-Institut, led by Prof. Dr. Tim Schröder, have developed a new sensor that can detect such individual electrical charges more precisely than ever before. Harnessing GeSn semiconductors for tomorrow’s quantum world Phys.org An international team of researchers from Forschungszentrum Jülich (Germany), Tohoku University (Japan), and École Polytechnique de Montréal (Canada) has made a significant discovery in semiconductor science by revealing the remarkable spin-related material properties of Germanium-Tin (GeSn) semiconductors. Semiconductors control the flow of electricity that power everyday technology all around us (such as cars and computers). However, technology is progressing at such a breakneck speed that it is straining current semiconductor technologies. October 3, 2025: Chip Industry Leaders Assail Trump’s Proposed Visa-Rule Changes INDUSTRY/MARKET Chip Industry Leaders Assail Trump’s Proposed Visa-Rule Changes Bloomberg Semiconductor industry leaders are warning the Trump administration that a proposed tightening of visa rules risks shrinking a vital talent pool and undermining efforts to expand chip manufacturing in the US. Skilled workers and foreign students help fill a widening talent gap in the US tech workforce. Last year, prior to any added immigration hurdles, the Semiconductor Industry Association warned that about 67,000 industry jobs risk going unfilled by 2030, with about 26% of those roles projected to require a master’s or PhD degree. EU pushes for Chips Act 2.0 investment as it looks set to miss global silicon production targets by a wide margin — seeks quadrupling of semiconductor investment as $50 billion initiative flounders Tom’s Hardware All the member nations of the EU have signed on to a Dutch-led coalition that wants to encourage additional investment in semiconductor manufacturing in the EU. The EU’s Chips Act budgeted 43 billion euros ($50.4 billion) in semiconductor manufacturing, chip design, and better supply chain monitoring that could allow state intervention in key areas. However, the EU is reportedly only on target to reach 11.7% of the world’s supply by that date, a rise of just under two percent since 2022. CHINA US tightens export controls on Chinese companies Financial Times Donald Trump’s administration has tightened export controls on Chinese companies to make it harder to circumvent existing rules designed to slow China’s ability to develop advanced semiconductors. The US commerce department on Monday said subsidiaries of groups named on the government’s “entity list”, a compilation of foreign entities and individuals subject to export controls, would be automatically added to the blacklist. China’s new K visa beckons foreign tech talent as US hikes H-1B fee Reuters China’s new visa programme aimed at attracting foreign tech talent kicks off this week, a move seen boosting Beijing’s fortunes in its geopolitical rivalry with Washington as a new U.S. visa policy prompts would-be applicants to scramble for alternatives. While China has no shortage of skilled local engineers, the programme is part of an effort by Beijing to portray itself as a country welcoming foreign investment and talent, as rising trade tensions due to U.S. tariffs cloud the country’s economic outlook. China weaponizes ag imports to target Trump and US farmers Politico As the clock ticks down on President Donald Trump’s deadline to seal a trade deal with China, a top U.S. farming industry is becoming collateral damage — again. Trump launched his tariff war earlier this year expressing confidence that China’s reliance on the U.S. market would force Beijing to accept trade terms that benefited American businesses and consumers. TRADE South Korea cannot pay $350 billion to US for tariff deal as Trump suggests, top aide says Reuters South Korea is unable to pay $350 billion upfront in investment in the United States as President Donald Trump suggested under a deal to cut tariffs and is seeking an alternative solution, Seoul’s presidential adviser said on Saturday. Since a handshake deal by the allies’ leaders in July to lower U.S. tariffs to 15% from 25%, as Trump earlier imposed, South Korea has said the $350 billion in investment would be in the form of loans and loan guarantees as well as equity. Trump tariff threats punch holes in UK trade deal Politico Keir Starmer thought he had an enduring trade pact with the U.S. to lower tariffs. Donald Trump appears to have other ideas. A flurry of new tariff announcements on pharma, trucks and movies have left British officials scrambling to keep up — and exposed holes in the trade deal Starmer and Trump struck in May. Under the terms of the May deal, the U.S. lowered tariffs on British car exports to 10 percent, but the U.K. has failed to negotiate a long-promised zero-tariff rate for steel and aluminum. And now, other threats are emerging. RESEARCH/TECHNOLOGY Stretchable light-emitting material holds promise for photon-based devices Phys.org A research team led by the California NanoSystems Institute at UCLA, or CNSI, demonstrated a new type of light-emitting material expected to be suitable for photonics—devices based on light in the same way that today’s electronics are based on electrical signals. The team used a semiconductor called molybdenum disulfide, in the form of a so-called “two-dimensional material” only three atoms thick, and Nafion, a polymer used in fuel cells. Scientists achieve electrically driven perovskite laser using dual-cavity design Phys.org In a recent Nature study, scientists have demonstrated an electrically driven perovskite laser using a dual-cavity design, addressing a challenge that has persisted in the field for over a decade. Perovskite semiconductors have emerged as exceptional materials for laser applications due to their high gain coefficients, long carrier lifetimes, and tunable emission wavelengths. Septermber 26, 2025: Trump Takes Aim at Chip Makers With New Plan to Throttle Imports INDUSTRY/MARKET Trump Takes Aim at Chip Makers With New Plan to Throttle Imports Wall Street Journal The Trump administration is weighing a new plan to reduce dramatically the U.S.’s reliance on semiconductors made overseas, hoping to spur domestic manufacturing and reshape global supply chains. The policy’s goal is to have chip companies manufacture the same number of semiconductors in the U.S. as their customers import from overseas producers. Companies that don’t maintain a 1:1 ratio over time would have to pay a tariff, according to people familiar with the concept. US to Southeast Asian chipmakers: shift production to America or face ‘tariff solution’ South China Morning Post Semiconductor manufacturers in Southeast Asia must shift production to the US or face punitive tariffs, Washington’s top trade official warned on Thursday, saying tariffs “are the solution” if trade talks with regional governments fail to deliver results. US Trade Representative Jamieson Greer delivered the message in Kuala Lumpur, where he met with ministers from the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (Asean). CHINA Thailand to step up China cooperation, lines up economic stimulus Reuters Thailand will deepen cooperation with China, including in areas like semiconductors and battery production, Thai prime minister Anutin Charnvirakul said on Friday, as his new government lined up measures to fire up a sluggish economy. Southeast Asia’s second-largest economy has been struggling with high household debt, weak consumption, the impact of U.S. tariffs and, in recent weeks, a soaring baht , with the currency reaching a four-year high against the dollar. Chinese AI Circuit Maker Moore Threads Greenlit for Shanghai IPO Bloomberg Moore Threads Technology Co., which makes equipment used in areas like artificial intelligence and machine learning, received approval from the Shanghai Stock Exchange for its initial public offering on the Star Market. The Beijing-based company founded in 2020, which is China’s leading provider of graphics processing units, plans to issue no less than 44.45 million shares. About 8 billion yuan ($1.1 billion) of the IPO proceeds will be used in next-generation projects in areas like AI and graphics chips, and to supplement working capital, according to an IPO prospectus submitted to the exchange. TRADE US implements EU trade deal, 15% autos tariffs retroactive to Aug 1 Reuters President Donald Trump’s administration said on Wednesday it was formally implementing the U.S. trade agreement with the European Union, confirming that a 15% duty rate for EU autos and auto parts began on August 1 and listing tariff exemptions for generic pharmaceuticals, aircraft and aircraft parts. In a Federal Register notice, opens new tab, the Commerce Department and the U.S. Trade Representative’s office said they have amended the tariff schedule to implement the framework agreement reached with the EU in July that lowers the Republican president’s tariffs to 15% on most imports from the EU, including autos. Why U.S.’s Trade Pact With South Korea Has Gotten Messier Wall Street Journal President Trump’s trade deal with South Korea is on shaky ground, with Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick taking a tough line in talks as some Seoul officials privately argue to allies that the White House is moving the goal posts. Lutnick, in recent conversations with South Korean officials, has discussed with Seoul the idea of slightly increasing the $350 billion they had previously guaranteed to the U.S. in July and suggested the final tally could get a bit closer to the $550 billion pledged by Japan, according to people familiar with the discussions, including an adviser to South Korea’s government. Japan to launch facility to support $550 billion investment under US trade deal Reuters Japan’s finance ministry said on Friday that it will set up an investment facility at a state-owned development bank to support a $550 billion investment package agreed in Tokyo’s tariff deal with Washington. Japan and the United States signed a memorandum of understanding on the details of the package this month, stating it would focus on investments in sectors such as chips, metals, pharmaceuticals, energy and shipbuilding to be made by January 2029, which coincides with the end of Donald Trump’s presidential term. RESEARCH/TECHNOLOGY New method for making graphene turns defects into improvements Phys.org Recent research has found a new way to make graphene that adds structural defects to improve the performance of the material that could have benefits across a range of applications—from sensors and batteries, to electronics. Scientists from the University of Nottingham’s School of Chemistry, University of Warwick and Diamond Light Source developed a single-step process to grow graphene-like films using a molecule, Azupyrene, whose shape mimics that of the desired defect. The research has been published today in Chemical Science. Engineers develop a magnetic transistor for more energy-efficient electronics Phys.org Transistors, the building blocks of modern electronics, are typically made of silicon. Because it’s a semiconductor, this material can control the flow of electricity in a circuit. But silicon has fundamental physical limits that restrict how compact and energy-efficient a transistor can be. MIT researchers have now replaced silicon with a magnetic semiconductor, creating a magnetic transistor that could enable smaller, faster, and more energy-efficient circuits. The material’s magnetism strongly influences its electronic behavior, leading to more efficient control of the flow of electricity. Septermber 19, 2025: Congress Weighs New Limits On Advanced AI Chips INDUSTRY/MARKET Congress Weighs New Limits On Advanced AI Chips Forbes As the end of the calendar year approaches, focus in Congress is turning to the annual defense policy bill, the National Defense Authorization Act. One of the measures that has generated some controversy recently, since it was added to the Senate’s NDAA draft, is the GAIN AI Act from Senators Jim Banks (R-Ind.) and Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.). Some lobbying groups representing tech and semiconductor interests have also criticized the effort, with the chipmakers’ representatives urging congressional leadership to block the measure’s passage into law. Korea Eases Equity Rules for Banks to Spur High-Tech Investment Bloomberg South Korea rolled out measures aimed at redirecting bank funds from property lending to critical industries including semiconductors and artificial intelligence. The so-called “productive finance” initiative lowers the regulatory burden on banks’ equity investments while tightening capital requirements for mortgage lending. The risk weight for banks’ equity investments will fall to 250% from 400%, while the floor for mortgage loan risk weights will rise to 20% from 15%. The new rules are set to take effect in the first quarter of next year. CHINA Bessent sees trade deal likely with China before November deadline on reciprocal tariffs CNBC Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent expressed confidence Tuesday that a trade deal with China is near. With so-called reciprocal tariffs set to take effect in November, Bessent said during a CNBC interview that he expects further talks to happen before then. US penalizes two Chinese companies that acquired tools for chipmaker SMIC Reuters The United States on Friday penalized two Chinese firms that acquired U.S. chipmaking equipment for China’s top chipmaker SMIC, including them among 32 entities that were added to the Commerce Department’s restricted trade list, according to a U.S. government posting. Twenty-three of the 32 were in China. TRADE US begins review of trade deal with Canada and Mexico Financial Times The Trump administration has begun to weigh up the future of its largest trade deal, which governs hundreds of billions of dollars in goods flowing between the US, Canada and Mexico. The United States–Mexico–Canada Agreement signed by Donald Trump in 2020 is due for review next summer, but US officials will on Wednesday publish a formal call for comments from American businesses ahead of a potential renegotiation. India and US seek breakthrough in day-long trade talks BBC India and the US are holding a day of trade talks, sparking hope that stalled negotiations on a bilateral agreement will soon resume. A team led by US trade negotiator Brendan Lynch is in Delhi to meet officials from India’s commerce ministry. India said the meeting doesn’t mark the start of the next round of negotiations, describing it as a “discussion” about “trying to see” how an agreement can be reached. RESEARCH/TECHNOLOGY ‘Wiggling’ atoms may lead to smaller, more efficient electronics Phys.org Researchers at Michigan State University have figured out how to use a fast laser to wiggle atoms in a way that temporarily changes the behavior of their host material. Their novel approach could lead to smaller and more efficient electronics—like smartphones—in the future. Physicists create new electrically controlled silicon-based quantum device Phys.org A team of scientists at Simon Fraser University’s Quantum Technology Lab and leading Canada-based quantum company Photonic Inc. have created a new type of silicon-based quantum device controlled both optically and electrically, marking the latest breakthrough in the global quantum computing race. The research, published in the journal Nature Photonics, reveals new diode nanocavity devices for electrical control over silicon color center qubits. Septermber 12, 2025: Global Semiconductor Sales Increase 20.6% Year-to-Year in July SIA NEWS Global Semiconductor Sales Increase 20.6% Year-to-Year in July Press Release “Global semiconductor sales remained robust in July, topping June’s results and far outpacing July of last year,” said John Neuffer, SIA president and CEO. “Growth continues to be driven by solid demand in the Asia Pacific region and the Americas.” INDUSTRY/MARKET Hyundai Raid Exposes Shortage of Visas for Asian Companies Trying to Move Staff Wall Street Journal The U.S. lacks the workforce needed to support advanced industries such as semiconductors and biotechnology, according to a July report by the Center for Strategic and International Studies, a Washington think tank. In semiconductors alone, an estimated 67,000 technical jobs are at risk of remaining unfilled by 2030 unless the workforce pipeline is expanded, according to the Semiconductor Industry Association. United Arab Emirates Joins U.S. and China in Giving Away A.I. Technology New York Times In a move that shows the growing influence of the United Arab Emirates in the global artificial intelligence race, a new research lab backed by the Persian Gulf nation said on Tuesday that it was freely sharing an A.I. model meant to compete with systems released by companies in the United States and China. Over the past year, many Chinese companies have aggressively shared their technologies through a process called open source, hoping to undercut leading U.S. companies like OpenAI and Google. Last month, OpenAI freely shared two of its own models in an effort to level the playing field and ensure that the world’s software developers and businesses continued to use its technology. CHINA Can Canada challenge China’s stranglehold on critical minerals? Financial Times Canada is positioning itself as a strategic counterweight to China’s dominance of rare earths and critical minerals. But the Canadian mining sector needs more investment to become an alternative supplier of the materials essential for the energy transition, industry experts say. Canada is a mining nation — the Toronto Stock Exchange and TSX Venture Exchange list more than 1,000 mining companies producing a range of commodities such as potash, gold and copper. But China controls about 60 per cent of the world’s rare earth mining production and close to 90 per cent of processing and refining, according to the International Energy Agency. TRADE Japan says lower US tariffs will take effect by September 16 Reuters U.S. tariffs on Japanese goods including cars and auto parts are set to be lowered by September 16, Japan’s tariff negotiator Ryosei Akazawa said on Tuesday. Citing a U.S. Federal Register document dated September 9 that formalised President Donald Trump’s executive order on the U.S.-Japan trade deal, Akazawa said in a press conference the revised tariff rates on Japanese goods will take effect within seven days from its publication. Trump says US, India continuing to negotiate trade deal The Hill President Trump said the United States and India will continue negotiating the terms of their trade agreement, less than two weeks after the U.S. president slapped a new round of tariffs on India for purchasing Russian oil. In a post on Truth Social on Tuesday, Trump called Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi his “very good friend” and said they would be speaking in the “upcoming weeks.” The EU’s Trade Truce With the U.S. Is in Danger of Unraveling Wall Street Journal When President Trump unveiled his trade deal with the European Union in July, businesses across the bloc thought it would end months of uncertainty for one of the world’s most lucrative trade relationships. Less than two months on, frustration with the deal is growing in Europe. Businesses are halting exports to the U.S., complaining about new bureaucratic hurdles and warning about a new era of unpredictability. RESEARCH/TECHNOLOGY Circuits invisible to the naked eye: New technique shrinks microchips beyond current size limits Phys.org Johns Hopkins researchers have discovered new materials and a new process that could advance the ever-escalating quest to make smaller, faster and affordable microchips used across modern electronics—in everything from cellphones to cars, appliances to airplanes. Using a process that is both precise and economical for manufacturing, the team of scientists has discovered how to create circuits that are so small they’re invisible to the naked eye. Core technology developed for ultra-high-resolution quantum dot displays Phys.org A research team has developed a direct optical lithography (DOL) technology that patterns quantum dots (QDs) at ultra-high resolution using only light, without photoresist. Through this, they also provided guidelines for selecting cross-linkers essential for fabricating high-performance QLEDs. This achievement is regarded as a core fundamental technology that can be applied to a wide range of optoelectronic devices, including micro-QLEDs, ultra-high-resolution displays, transparent electronic devices, and next-generation image sensors. Septermber 5, 2025: India and Singapore Deepen AI, Chips Ties as US Tariff Risks Grow INDUSTRY/MARKET India and Singapore Deepen AI, Chips Ties as US Tariff Risks Grow Bloomberg India and Singapore pledged Thursday to deepen cooperation on artificial intelligence and semiconductors, signing new industry pacts as New Delhi works to expand trade ties with key partners and blunt the impact of 50% US tariffs. “Singapore is a strong pillar of our Act East Policy,” Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi said during a joint statement in New Delhi alongside Singaporean counterpart Lawrence Wong. “Tech and innovation are pillars of our relationship.” Trump to impose tariffs on semiconductor imports from firms not moving production to US Reuters President Donald Trump said on Thursday his administration would impose tariffs on semiconductor imports from companies not shifting production to the U.S., speaking ahead of a dinner with major technology company CEOs. “Yeah, I have discussed it with the people here. Chips and semiconductors – we will be putting tariffs on companies that aren’t coming in. We will be putting a tariff very shortly,” Trump said without giving an exact time or rate. CHINA SMIC to take full control of subsidiary chip foundry as China’s fab industry consolidates South China Morning Post Semiconductor Manufacturing International Corporation (SMIC), China’s largest contract chipmaker, said it planned to buy all of a foundry it controls as the nation’s fab industry undergoes a wave of consolidation. In a statement last week, the company said it planned to buy the remaining equity interest in Semiconductor Manufacturing North China (Beijing) Corporation (SMNC), a subsidiary that is currently 51 per cent owned by SMIC. China Is Using the Private Sector to Advance Military AI Wall Street Journal China’s military has gone outside its typical network of state-owned defense contractors and military-linked research institutes in recent years, tapping hundreds of suppliers including private companies and civilian universities in a push to incorporate AI into its operations and weapons systems, according to new data published Wednesday by researchers at Georgetown University. While the U.S. and Chinese militaries have both sought to tap the knowledge and innovative energy of universities and the private sector, the data indicates the PLA has been able to do it more systematically. That gives China a potential leg up in the challenging task of weaving AI into national defense, security analysts say. TRADE Trump finalizes Japan trade deal with 15% tariffs as Ishiba faces discontent from within party CNBC U.S. President Donald Trump signed an executive order Thursday stateside to implement a trade deal with Japan, with 15% baseline tariffs on most Japanese goods, including autos. The deal had been reached in July after months of negotiations, with Washington and Tokyo continuing to haggle over details for weeks before it was signed. European parliamentarians attack EU-US trade deal and demand changes Financial Times MEPs from most of the parties in the European parliament called for changes to the EU’s trade deal with the US on Wednesday, raising fears that the fragile transatlantic truce could break. The assembly must vote to approve the reductions in tariffs Brussels has promised Washington on certain American goods as part of the deal struck in July, which levies 15 per cent on most EU exports to the US. RESEARCH/TECHNOLOGY Scientists develop technology to grow semiconductor single crystals at temperatures exceeding 2,200°C Phys.org The single crystals currently used in semiconductors, electronic devices, and optical devices can’t take the heat. Associate Professor Yuui Yokota and Professor Akira Yoshikawa (Institute for Materials Research, Tohoku University) have developed a new crystal growth technology using a tungsten (W) crucible that can be used at temperatures over 2,200°C. This crystal growth technology is expected to make significant contributions to the discovery of new materials and the mass-production of oxide single crystals with a higher melting point. Quantum emitter discovery in diamonds enables a new type of coupling Phys.org Researchers at The City College of New York have shown how a quantum emitter, the nitrogen-vacancy (NV) center in diamond, interacts in unexpected ways with a specially engineered photonic structure when moved around with a scanning tip. The study, led by Carlos A. Meriles—Martin and Michele Cohen Professor of Physics in the Division of Science—and titled “Emission of Nitrogen–Vacancy Centres in Diamond Shaped by Topological Photonic Waveguide Modes,” appears in the journal Nature Nanotechnology. May 23, 2025: OpenAI, UAE to build massive AI center in Abu Dhabi INDUSTRY/MARKET OpenAI, UAE to build massive AI center in Abu Dhabi Axios OpenAI will partner with United Arab Emirates to build Stargate UAE, a massive new Middle East data center that’s part of the company’s OpenAI for Countries push, the deal’s participants announced Thursday. Why it matters: The deal is a huge AI bet by the Emirates, which will also secure ChatGPT Plus subscriptions for its entire population, making it the first country to do so. Thales, Radiall, FoxConn explore semiconductor assembly plant in France Reuters French defence group Thales ( TCFP.PA ) connector maker Radiall and Taiwan’s FoxConn ( 2354.TW ) have begun preliminary talks to establish a semiconductor assembly and test facility in France, they said on Monday. The proposed plant would focus on outsourced semiconductor assembly and test (OSAT) operations, with production capacity expected to exceed 100 million system-in-package (SiP) units annually by 2031. CHINA China warns of legal consequences to those involved in US chip measures Reuters China said it could take legal action against any individual or organisation assisting or implementing U.S. measures that advise companies against using advanced semiconductors from China. The U.S. published guidance last week saying companies risk violating export controls if they use Ascend AI chips from Shenzhen-based Huawei (HWT.UL). Xiaomi stands as one of China’s biggest semiconductor investors, founder Lei Jun says South China Morning Post Smartphone giant Xiaomi is one of China’s top three investors in semiconductor development on the back of a 10-year, 50 billion yuan (US$6.9 billion) spending programme, according to company founder, chairman and chief executive Lei Jun. In a Monday post on Chinese microblogging site Weibo, Lei wrote that Xiaomi achieved the milestone as of April after spending 13.5 billion yuan and deploying 2,500 research-and-development (R&D) staff to work on its XRing O1 system-on-a-chip (SoC). TRADE Trump threatens steep tariffs on trade with the European Union — and on iPhones NPR President Trump on Friday threatened on social media that he may impose a steep 50% tariff on imports from the European Union starting June 1 because of a lack of progress in talks about trade issues. US signals reciprocal tariffs will return for some countries Supply Chain Dive The United States will reinstate reciprocal tariffs first announced April 2 for countries it is unable to reach deals with during the current 90-day pause, Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said in multiple interviews Sunday. Bessent’s comments came two days after President Donald Trump, while visiting the United Arab Emirates, said countries would be notified of their tariff rates within two to three weeks. EU downgrades growth estimates after US trade war Politico EU The European Commission downgraded its estimates for the bloc’s growth in 2025 due to the effects of U.S. President Donald Trump’s tariffs. The euro area is expected to grow by a mere 0.9 percent and the EU by 1.1 percent this year, according to the Commission’s annual spring forecast, which was published on Monday. Japan is sticking to demand for US to eliminate tariffs, trade envoy says Reuters Japan’s top trade negotiator, Ryosei Akazawa, said on Tuesday there was no change to Tokyo’s stance of demanding an elimination of U.S. tariffs in bilateral trade negotiations. “The slew of U.S. tariffs including reciprocal tariffs as well as those on automobiles, car parts, steel and aluminium, are regrettable. There’s no change to our stance of seeking a review, which is to say an elimination, of them,” Akazawa told a regular press conference. RESEARCH/TECHNOLOGY Record-high Curie temperature achieved in ferromagnetic semiconductor Phys.org Ferromagnetic semiconductors (FMSs) combine the unique properties of semiconductors and magnetism, making them ideal candidates for developing spintronic devices that integrate both semiconductor and magnetic functionalities. However, one of the key challenges in FMSs has been achieving high Curie temperatures (TC) that enable their stable operation at room temperature. To overcome these limitations, a team of researchers led by Professor Pham Nam Hai from the Institute of Science Tokyo, Japan, developed a high-quality (Ga,Fe)Sb FMS using the step-flow growth method on vicinal GaAs (100) substrates with a high off-angle of 10°. Mind the band gap: Researchers create nanoscale forms of elementary semiconductor with tunable electronic properties Phys.org Researchers have demonstrated that by using a semiconductor with flexible bonds, the material can be molded into various structures using nano containers, without altering its composition. The discovery could lead to the design of a variety of customized electronic devices using only a single element. May 16, 2025: SIA Advocates for U.S. Trade Policies that Advance American Leadership in Semiconductors SIA NEWS SIA Advocates for U.S. Trade Policies that Advance American Leadership in Semiconductors Blog Semiconductors are in the spotlight. Over the past few years, governments and industry alike have recognized the critical role semiconductor technologies play in fueling America’s economic and industrial competitiveness, strengthening national security, and underpinning America’s leadership across a range of technologies. Today, David Isaacs, Vice President of Government Affairs at SIA, will offer testimony to members of the Senate Finance Committee on the importance of advancing trade, tax, deregulation, and other policies designed to ensure America’s leadership in semiconductor technology remains unchallenged. INDUSTRY/MARKET Saudi crown prince launches new company to develop AI technologies Reuters Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman launched a new company to develop and manage artificial intelligence technologies in Saudi Arabia on Monday, a top priority of its economic diversification drive. U.S. President Donald Trump travels to Saudi Arabia this week, the first stop on his Gulf tour, and AI is expected to be a major discussion point during Tuesday’s joint Saudi-U.S. investment forum in Riyadh. India approves HCL-Foxconn joint venture semiconductor unit Reuters India’s cabinet has approved a new semiconductor plant, a joint venture between HCL Group and Taiwan’s Foxconn ( 2317.TW ) costing 37.06 billion rupees ($435 million), information minister Ashwini Vaishnaw said on Wednesday. The plant, which will be located near the Jewar airport in the northern state of Uttar Pradesh, is designed for a capacity of 20,000 wafers per month and can produce 36 million display driver chips, Vaishnaw said at a cabinet briefing in New Delhi. CHINA China’s premier chipmaker SMIC faces chip yield woes as equipment maintenance and validation efforts stall Tom’s Hardware Following multiple rounds of restrictions imposed on semiconductor production equipment sales to China, the country’s foundry champion, Semiconductor Manufacturing International Corporation (SMIC), is finally feeling the effects. SMIC ran into two yield and output-related issues recently. An unexpected incident during scheduled annual maintenance disrupted production lines and compromised process accuracy, leading to a drop in yield rates. On top of that, the validation of newly installed equipment uncovered performance issues that needed correction, causing additional yield fluctuations. China’s exports to U.S. sink, offset by trade with other economies, as Trump’s tariffs hit global trade PBS News China’s exports to the United States tumbled in April while its trade with other economies surged, suggesting that President Donald Trump’s tariffs offensive is hastening a shakeup in global supply chains. Shipments to the U.S. sank 21 percent in dollar terms as Trump’s tariffs on most Chinese exports rose to as high as 145 percent. With Chinese tariffs on U.S. goods at 125 percent, business between the two biggest economies has grown increasingly uncertain. ‘Export rush’ grips China as businesses scramble to make the most of tariff pause CNN A surprise breakthrough in US-China trade tensions has unleashed a flurry of activity across Chinese factories and ports as companies in both countries rush to make the most of a 90-day rollback of heavy tariffs announced earlier this week. Meanwhile, ports are about to start humming as companies rush to ship out inventory that had been held back during weeks of trade tension. Bookings for shipping containers from China to the United States spiked almost 300% in the seven days ending May 13, compared to the week ending May 5, according to container-tracking software provider Vizion. TRADE Japan PM Ishiba reiterates call to eliminate all tariffs with US Reuters Japanese Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba reiterated on Sunday that he will aim for the elimination of all tariffs in trade negotiations with the United States. Speaking on a Fuji Television morning program, Ishiba said that “discussions have gradually come together,” and that Tokyo’s relationship with U.S. President Donald Trump is “surprisingly good.” Trump’s tariff deals send Europe to the back of the line Politico EU As U.S. President Donald Trump advances on trade deals with the U.K. and even with arch nemesis China, the European Union is being left out in the cold — laying bare the profound rupture between the once-close allies.  Despite several attempts at negotiating with Washington to remove Trump’s tariffs on European goods, the European Commission, which handles trade policy on behalf of the EU’s 27 member countries, has yet to achieve a breakthrough. RESEARCH/TECHNOLOGY Stability solution brings unique form of carbon closer to practical application Phys.org Carbyne, a one-dimensional chain of carbon atoms, is incredibly strong for being so thin, making it an intriguing possibility for use in next-generation electronics, but its extreme instability causing it to bend and snap on itself made it nearly impossible to produce at all, let alone produce enough of it for advanced studies. Now, an international team of researchers, including from Penn State, may have a solution. A superconducting diode: Researchers successfully control the direction of current in a superconductor Phys.org What would happen if you combined the unparalleled efficiency of a superconductor with the flexibility and controllability of a semiconductor? Thanks to a new breakthrough in quantum materials, we may be getting an answer soon. In an article published in Communications Physics, a multi-institutional research team led by The University of Osaka announces the successful observation of the so-called superconducting diode effect in an Fe(Se,Te)/FeTe heterostructure. The paper is titled “A scaling relation of vortex-induced rectification effects in a superconducting thin-film heterostructure.” May 9, 2025: Global Semiconductor Sales Increase 18.8% in Q1 2025 Compared to Q1 2024; March 2025 Sales up 1.8% Month-to-Month SIA NEWS Global Semiconductor Sales Increase 18.8% in Q1 2025 Compared to Q1 2024; March 2025 Sales up 1.8% Month-to-Month Press Release “Global semiconductor demand remains high, with first-quarter sales substantially outpacing the first quarter of last year,” said John Neuffer, SIA president and CEO. “Year-to-year sales increased by more than 17% for the 11th consecutive month, driven by a year-to-year sales increase of roughly 45% in the Americas.” INDUSTRY/MARKET Trump administration to overhaul “overly complex, overly bureaucratic” AI Diffusion rule Data Center Dynamics The Trump administration plans to rescind the much-criticized Framework for Artificial Intelligence Diffusion rule enacted by former President Joe Biden at the end of his term. The regulation was set to go into force on May 15 but a spokesperson for the US Department of Commerce this week labeled it “overly complex, overly bureaucratic” and said it would “stymie American innovation.” Instead, the spokesperson said, the Trump administration would replace it with “a much simpler rule that unleashes American innovation and ensures American AI dominance.” US semiconductor import probe looms over medtech industry Manufacturing Dive The U.S. Commerce Department’s Section 232 investigation into semiconductor imports could create substantial new costs for the medtech sector if it brings additional tariffs, especially for medical devices that are chip-intensive or produced at a large scale, according to experts who spoke with MedTech Dive. President Donald Trump’s tariffs are already causing financial fallout for device makers. In first-quarter earnings updates, companies such as GE Healthcare and Thermo Fisher cut full-year profit forecasts, while others like Johnson & Johnson and Danaher warned they expect several hundred million dollars in tariff-related costs. CHINA China’s SMIC has strong quarter but outlook cloudy due to tariffs, production yields Reuters China’s top foundry, Semiconductor Manufacturing International Corp (SMIC) ( 0981.HK ), opens new tab, said first-quarter revenue surged and profit more than doubled, helped in part by rush orders from U.S. customers seeking to beat hikes in tariffs. But the results fell short of analysts’ expectations and SMIC predicted a drop in revenue for the current quarter, saying the company could have lower production yields due to the testing of newly installed equipment. Its Hong Kong-listed shares tumbled 6.8%. EU countries soften push to stop Chinese tech buyouts Politico EU The EU’s attempt to stop China from buying out its top chipmakers and AI companies is being hollowed out from within. National capitals are pushing to weaken rules that would require them to screen foreign investments in sensitive technologies, such as semiconductors or artificial intelligence, according to the latest draft compromise text on the review of the rules governing foreign direct investment (FDI) screening seen by POLITICO. The FDI review is part of a signature initiative from European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen’s first mandate: a new economic security strategy for the EU. How China’s self-sufficiency drive is dividing the global tech ecosystem South China Morning Post China is rapidly advancing its technological self-sufficiency in semiconductors and biotechnology, a trend accelerated by escalating trade tensions with the US, industry experts said in a webinar hosted by the South China Morning Post’s China Future Tech. “We need to be ready to see a world that will be increasingly polarised, basically with the bifurcation in supply chains, which could be about manufacturing, which could be about data flows … could be about investment,” said Gary Ng, senior economist at Natixis Corporate & Investment Bank, during the panel discussion on Thursday. TRADE Trump’s trade war threatens €549B of EU goods, Brussels warns Politico EU U.S. President Donald Trump’s probes into pharmaceuticals, raw materials and semiconductors — combined with sweeping tariffs already applied against the European Union — are expected to hit a total of €549 billion of EU exports, EU trade chief Maroš Šefčovič said. In other words, they would cover 97 percent of total EU exports to the United States, the European Commission estimates. Trump hails framework of U.K. trade deal, but 10% tariffs will remain on some items CBS News President Trump on Thursday announced the broad terms of a trade deal with Britain, which could lower the burden of his sweeping tariffs and potentially deliver a political victory for Prime Minister Keir Starmer. The president said in remarks from the Oval Office that the two countries are “affirming that reciprocity and fairness is an essential and vital principle of international trade.”  The deal is the first rolled out in Mr. Trump’s second term and comes as the president has used tariffs — and the threat of the levies — as leverage to bring other countries to the table to negotiate trade deals with his administration. RESEARCH/TECHNOLOGY New microwave-to-optical transducer uses rare-earth ions for efficient quantum signal conversion Phys.org Quantum technologies, which leverage quantum mechanical effects to process information, could outperform their classical counterparts in some complex and advanced tasks. A long-standing challenge in the field of quantum technology is converting quantum signals carried by microwave photons (i.e., particles of electromagnetic radiation in the microwave frequency range) into optical photons (i.e., visible or near visible light particles). Researchers at the California Institute of Technology recently developed a new microwave-to-optical transducer based on rare-earth ion-doped crystals. Their on-chip transducer, outlined in a paper published in Nature Physics, was implemented using ytterbium-171 ions doped in a YVO4 crystal. Majoranas on the move: Superconductor-quantum dot combo manipulates Majorana bound states Phys.org Researchers at QuTech in Delft have combined superconductors and quantum dots to observe and manipulate so-called Majorana bound states, which have properties that could enable stable quantum computation. By building a chain of three coupled quantum dots in a two-dimensional electron gas, they were able to demonstrate properties of Majoranas that are essential for the study of Majorana-based quantum bits. The results are published in Nature. May 2, 2025: Exclusive: Trump officials eye changes to Biden's AI chip export rule, sources say INDUSTRY/MARKET Exclusive: Trump officials eye changes to Biden’s AI chip export rule, sources say Reuters The Trump administration is working on changes to a Biden-era rule that would limit global access to AI chips, including possibly doing away with its splitting the world into tiers that help determine how many advanced semiconductors a country can obtain, three sources familiar with the matter said. The sources said the plans were still under discussion and warned they could change. But if enacted, removing the tiers could open the door to using U.S. chips as an even more powerful negotiating tool in trade talks. Zoho suspends $700 million chipmaking plan in latest setback for India Reuters Indian software firm Zoho has suspended its year-long pursuit of a $700 million plan to expand into chip manufacturing, its co-founder said on Thursday, confirming a Reuters story and dealing another blow to the Indian government’s semiconductor plans. Reuters reported on Wednesday that Indian billionaire Gautam Adani’s group has also paused discussions with Israel’s Tower Semiconductor (TSEM.TA) for its $10 billion chip project following an internal evaluation by the Indian group. CHINA Alibaba launches new Qwen LLMs in China’s latest open-source AI breakthrough CNBC Alibaba released the next generation of its open-sourced large language models, Qwen3, on Tuesday — and experts are calling it yet another breakthrough in China’s booming open-source artificial intelligence space. In a blog post, the Chinese tech giant said Qwen3 promises improvements in reasoning, instruction following, tool usage and multilingual tasks, rivaling other top-tier models such as DeepSeek’s R1 in several industry benchmarks. China exempts some goods from US tariffs Reuters China has exempted some U.S. imports from its 125% tariffs and is asking firms to identify critical goods they need levy-free, according to businesses that have been notified, in the clearest sign yet of Beijing’s concerns about the trade war’s fallout. The dispensation, which follows de-escalatory statements from Washington, signals that the world’s two largest economies were prepared to rein in their conflict, which had frozen much of the trade between them and raised fears of a global recession. China says it’s considering trade talks with U.S., but demands canceled tariffs Associated Press China says it is “assessing the situation” after what it says have been multiple overtures from the United States seeking trade talks, a potential sign that the two sides may be inching closer to a breakthrough. In a statement, however, China’s Commerce Ministry indicated that the Trump administration’s tariffs stand in the way. “If the U.S. side wants to talk, it must show sincerity and be prepared to correct its erroneous actions and cancel its unilateral tariff increases,” it said. China is using AI to sharpen every link in its attack chain, FBI warns The Register The biggest threat to US critical infrastructure, according to FBI Deputy Assistant Director Cynthia Kaiser, can be summed up in one word: “China.” In an interview with The Register during RSA Conference, she said Chinese government-backed crews are testing out AI in every stage of the attack chain. This isn’t to say that they’re succeeding, but it does make them “more efficient, or might make them a little faster,” Kaiser added. TRADE Brussels unveils Trump trade retaliation tactics to EU countries Politico The European Commission presented to EU countries on Wednesday a list of the concessions it is willing to make to the Donald Trump administration as well as a new list of goods it is going to slap with tariffs if negotiations fail, an EU official and an EU diplomat told POLITICO. The dual-track approach allows the European Commission, which calls the shots on trade policy on behalf of the EU’s 27 member states, to get sufficient political backing, and enter into negotiations with Washington from a position of strength. Trump softens tariffs on auto parts for US-assembled cars Supply Chain Dive The U.S. will reimburse domestic car manufacturers for a portion of the costs related to 25% tariffs on auto parts set to begin May 3, according to an amended executive order President Donald Trump signed Tuesday. The updated order stipulates that automakers that assemble their vehicles in the U.S. can apply to offset up to 3.75% of their tariff costs related to auto imports for one year, retroactive to April 3. The available offset rate will drop to 2.5% for the next 12-month period and then be removed. RESEARCH/TECHNOLOGY Pressure-responsive, layered semiconductor shows potential for next-gen data storage Phys.org A squishy, layered material that dramatically transforms under pressure could someday help computers store more data with less energy. That’s according to a new study by researchers at Washington State University and the University of North Carolina at Charlotte that shows a hybrid zinc telluride-based material can undergo surprising structural changes when squeezed together like a molecular sandwich. Hey, what are these curved green flashes above my polymer semiconductor? Phys.org In every scientific discovery in the movies, a scientist observes something unexpected, scratches the side of his or her forehead and says “hmmmmm.” In just such a moment in real life, scientists from Canada observed unexpected flashes of curved green light from a red light-emitting polymer above its surface. Their resulting investigation of the new phenomenon could find applications towards understanding the failures of polymer materials and more. Their work has been published in Physical Review Letters. April 18, 2025: White House launches national security investigation into pharma, semiconductors INDUSTRY/MARKET White House launches national security investigation into pharma, semiconductors The Hill The Trump administration disclosed Monday that it had opened an investigation into the effects on national security of importing certain pharmaceuticals, a move widely seen as the prelude to initiating tariffs on prescription drugs. The Department of Commerce in a Federal Register notice said the probe, known as a Section 232 investigation, began April 1, the day before President Trump announced widespread tariffs on all imported goods but specifically exempted pharmaceuticals. South Korea announces over $23 billion for chip sector as Trump tariffs on semiconductor imports loom CNBC South Korea announced Tuesday a support package of 33 trillion won ($23.25 billion) for its vital semiconductor industry, as heightened uncertainty over U.S. tariffs threatens domestic companies. This comes after U.S. president Donald Trump reportedly said he would be announcing the tariff rate on imported semiconductors soon, after exempting them from his steep “reciprocal” tariffs last Friday. CHINA Trump says US is talking to China about a tariff deal ABC News Trump revealed for the first time that U.S. and Chinese teams are discussing a deal on tariffs and that he thinks a deal could be achieved in the next three to four weeks. Pressed by ABC News’ Rachel Scott and other reporters, Trump would not say whether he had spoken directly with Chinese President Xi Jinping. Asked by Scott if Xi had reached out to Trump to initiate a conversation, Trump replied, “Well, you think it was pretty obvious that he has, but we will talk about that soon. It’s not that important because honestly, we’re going to have a deal. I believe we’re going to have a deal with China,” Trump said. “And if we don’t, we’re going to have a deal anyway because we’re going to set a certain target and that’s going to be it.” China’s chip trade faces uncertainty after growing in first quarter amid US tariff war South China Morning Post China’s integrated circuit (IC) imports and exports continued to rise in both volume and value in the first quarter, as semiconductors and consumer electronics have become key battlegrounds in a chaotic trade war between the US and China. Meanwhile, Chinese semiconductor traders have reportedly halted price quotes for their clients in anticipation of shipment disruptions caused by the tariff conflict. Most sellers in Shenzhen’s Huaqiangbei, China’s largest electronics component sourcing market, have stopped providing quotes for products ranging from central processing units (CPUs) to graphic cards, according to a recent report from Chinese news outlet Jiemian. Why China curbing rare earth exports is a blow to the US BBC As the trade war between China and the US escalates, attention has been focused on the increasingly high levels of tit-for-tat tariffs the two countries are imposing on one another. But slapping reciprocal tariffs on Washington is not the only way Beijing has been able to retaliate. China has now also imposed export controls on a range of critical rare earth minerals and magnets, dealing a major blow to the US. The move has laid bare how reliant America is on these minerals. TRADE Trump promises a trade deal with Europe Politico President Donald Trump and Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni both expressed optimism during a White House meeting on Thursday about an eventual trade deal between the United States and Europe. “There will be a trade deal, 100 percent,” Trump promised. “Of course there will be a trade deal. They want to make one very much, and we are going to make a trade deal, I fully expect it, but it will be a fair deal.” JD Vance says US hopeful of ‘great’ trade deal with UK The Guardian The US is optimistic it can negotiate a “great” trade deal with the UK, JD Vance has said. Donald Trump imposed sweeping tariffs on imports to the US several weeks ago, sending the global economy into turmoil as stock prices tumbled and fears of a global recession mounted. Since then, Trump has rowed back on many tariffs, reducing the rate paid on imports from most countries to 10% and exempting electronics such as smartphones and laptops from the levies, including the 145% charge on imports from China. RESEARCH/TECHNOLOGY Physicists develop compact, mid-infrared pulse generator on single chip Phys.org Physicists at Harvard John A. Paulson School of Engineering and Applied Sciences (SEAS) have created a compact laser that emits extremely bright, short pulses of light in a useful but difficult-to-achieve wavelength range, packing the performance of larger photonic devices onto a single chip. Published in Nature, the research is the first demonstration of an on-chip, picosecond, mid-infrared laser pulse generator that requires no external components to operate. Multivalley semiconductor enables optical switching in germanium for high-speed computing and communications Phys.org Currently, most optical switches are based on microelectromechanical systems, which require an electric voltage or current to operate, resulting in slow response times. To address this gap, a group of researchers, led by Professor Junjun Jia from the Faculty of Science and Engineering at Waseda University, Japan, in collaboration with Professor Hui Ye and Dr. Hossam A. Almossalami from the College of Optical Science and Engineering at Zhejiang University, China, Professor Naoomi Yamada from the Department of Applied Chemistry at Chubu University, Japan, and Dr. Takashi Yagi from the National Institute of Advanced Industrial Science and Technology, Japan, investigated the multivalley optical switching phenomenon in germanium (Ge) films. April 11, 2025: Zero tariffs and smooth customs are key expectations from India-US BTA: John Neuffer INDUSTRY/MARKET Zero tariffs and smooth customs are key expectations from India-US BTA: John Neuffer CNBC TV 18 The ongoing negotiations for a Bilateral Trade Agreement (BTA) between the United States and India hold significant promise for the semiconductor industry, with zero tariffs and efficient customs procedures being top priorities. John Neuffer, President & CEO of the US Semiconductor Industries Association (SIA), emphasised the critical need for such measures, stating, “Zero tariffs would be wonderful. Our industry is possibly the most global industry in terms of supply chains that’s out there… We need zero-tariff treatment at the border, and we need customs clearance facilitation that’s smooth and quick.” He believes that if India can deliver on these aspects through the BTA, it will significantly boost business on both sides. India did right in semiconductors, 20% of global workforce here: Semiconductor Industry Association CEO John Neuffer ANI India is rapidly emerging as a significant player in the global semiconductor landscape, transitioning from a stronghold in chip design to taking steps toward manufacturing according to John Neuffer, President and CEO of the Semiconductor Industry Association. He emphasised that India has “done a lot right” in the sector, noting that 20 per cent of the global semiconductor workforce is already based in the country. Addressing the 9th Carnegie Global Tech Summit in the national capital on Friday on progress in semiconductors by India, Neuffer said, “India has done a lot right when it comes to our sector. 20 per cent of our workforce is here. We have a core design of our ships. We have a great ecosystem for that. I think we are in a very special moment right now. We have this trust initiative in front of us. We also have a bilateral trade agreement in front of us.” Europe’s AI Continent Action Plan: Gigafactories, Data Labs, And Green AI Forbes The EU has launched its most aggressive initiative yet to establish itself as a contender in the global AI race. On Wednesday, the European Commission, the bloc’s executive arm, outlined the key action of its AI Continent Action Plan, which aims to narrow the widening technological gap with the United States and China in this critical domain. The centerpiece of the EU’s strategy involves developing a network of AI gigafactories – computing facilities equipped with approximately 100,000 advanced AI chips each, four times more than current AI factories. CHINA Trump tariffs live updates: China raises retaliatory duties on U.S. goods to 125% as dollar sinks NBC News China raised its total retaliatory tariff on U.S. imports to 125% today after the Trump administration clarified yesterday that U.S. duties on Beijing are actually 145% because of earlier fentanyl-related levies. Beijing signaled that this is likely to be its last increase for the moment as tit-for-tat tariffs reach levels that make trade between the world’s two biggest economies unfeasible Chinese semiconductor, auto parts suppliers expect to gain from intensified US trade war South China Morning Post Some Chinese semiconductor and auto parts suppliers expect their businesses to benefit from the country’s escalating trade war with the United States, according to corporate filings. Suzhou Everbright Photonics, which makes high-powered diode laser and radar sensor chips, said China’s retaliatory tariffs on American imports would prove helpful because the “cost of imported chips will be higher and uncertainties in the supply chain will be greater” for domestic clients. The Shanghai-listed company, whose shares gained 5.4 per cent on Tuesday, said China is expected to be more steadfast in replacing imported chips with local alternatives, as the trade war intensifies. China kicks off hunt for rare quartz, with hi-tech aspirations, self-sufficiency in mind South China Morning Post Discoveries of rare and valuable mineral resources, while often making instant headlines, tend to take years to pay off – and that is happening now with a high-purity quartz that is of strategic importance in China’s hi-tech and industrial ambitions. Five years after a mineable source was found domestically for the first time, the quartz in question has been formally identified by the Ministry of Natural Resources as China’s 174th mineral for exploitation. TRADE Trump scales back tariffs, except on China Axios President Trump paused the sweeping reciprocal tariffs the U.S. imposed this week, saying dozens of countries had reached out to negotiate new trade deals. It’s the relief global markets, U.S. allies and many Trump advisers wanted, as fears of a global crisis mounted. But Trump didn’t back off fully, keeping 10% baseline tariffs in place while increasing tariffs on China to 125%. EU pauses retaliatory tariffs following Trump’s trade U-turn CNN The European Union has announced a 90-day pause on countermeasures against the United States, a day after President Donald Trump unveiled a similar pause on his “reciprocal” tariffs. “We want to give negotiations a chance,” European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen said Thursday. This comes after the EU on Wednesday announced it would begin collecting higher duties on US imports, in retaliation for the steel and aluminum tariffs announced by Trump in March. RESEARCH/TECHNOLOGY Controlling quantum particle states through structural phase transition of crystals Phys.org A research team has successfully fine-tuned the Rabi oscillation of polaritons, quantum composite particles, by leveraging changes in electrical properties induced by crystal structure transformation. Published in Advanced Science, this study demonstrates that the properties of quantum particles can be controlled without the need for complex external devices, which is expected to greatly enhance the feasibility of practical quantum technology. The team was led by Professor Chang-Hee Cho from the Department of Physics and Chemistry at DGIST. Water filter with nanoscale channels selectively removes stubborn ‘forever chemicals’ Phys.org Traditional water filters struggle to remove smaller PFAS molecules, but a new Monash-designed filter changes that. Researchers at Monash University have developed a water filtration membrane that effectively removes small PFAS molecules, overcoming a significant challenge faced by conventional water filters. The research team designed a beta-cyclodextrin (βCD) modified graphene oxide (GO-βCD) membrane with nanoscale channels that selectively retain PFAS while allowing water to pass through. The work is published in the journal ACS Nano. April 4, 2025: Global Semiconductor Sales Increase 17.1% Year-to-Year in February SIA NEWS Global Semiconductor Sales Increase 17.1% Year-to-Year in February Press Release “Despite a slight decline in month-to-month sales, the global semiconductor industry hit its highest-ever monthly sales total for the month of February, driving strong year-to-year growth,” said John Neuffer, SIA president and CEO. “Year-to-year sales increased by more than 17% for the 10th consecutive month, driven by a year-to-year sales increase of nearly 50% in the Americas.” INDUSTRY/MARKET CNBC Transcript: United States Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick Speaks with CNBC’s “Squawk Box” Today CNBC LUTNICK: You know, people need to understand we did not today, you know, semiconductors are not included. Pharmaceuticals are not included. Donald Trump’s going to deeply study those. And those are going to come later on how to reshore from Taiwan all that semiconductor manufacturing. We have to protect ourselves at some point. Right. America has to be able to protect itself. We can’t have everything. I mean think about it. All of our electronics are primarily built in Taiwan. It used to be built here. Our policies let Taiwan take it all. And now, 9,000 miles away, our way of life is being built and Donald Trump is saying, come on, that’s got to be here. Trump signs order to set up new entity to take over Biden’s Chips Act program The Guardian Donald Trump signed an executive order on Monday setting up a new entity to take over the Chips Act program and speed up corporate investments in the US. The United States Investment Accelerator within the commerce department will oversee implementing the Chips and Science Act, a 2022 law that made $52.7bn in subsidies available for semiconductor chips manufacturing and production. CHINA China imposes 34% reciprocal tariffs on imports of US goods in retaliation for Trump’s trade war CNN Business China said Friday that it will impose reciprocal 34% tariffs on all imports from the United States from April 10, making good on a promise to strike back after US President Donald Trump escalated a global trade war. On Wednesday, Trump unveiled an additional 34% tariff on all Chinese goods imported into the US, in a move poised to cause a major reset of relations and worsen trade tensions between the world’s two largest economies. Tech war: Huawei’s ternary logic patent could solve the problem of power-hungry AI chips South China Morning Post Huawei Technologies has applied for a patent in “ternary logic”, an alternative to binary computing logic first explored in the former Soviet Union, in hopes that it could improve the design of artificial intelligence (AI) chips and help mitigate the impact of US sanctions According to a notice published by the China National Intellectual Property Administration last month, Huawei applied for the patent in ternary logic in the design of integrated circuits in September 2023, but the application was only made public last month. TRADE Trump unveils sweeping 10% tariff and ‘reciprocal’ tariffs on dozens of nations NPR President Trump has unveiled sweeping “reciprocal tariffs” on goods from the world over, plus a 10% baseline tariff on U.S. imports from virtually all countries, as he seeks to reshape decades of U.S. trade policy despite warnings of higher costs for American businesses and consumers. The president announced a 10% minimum tariff to apply to goods from all countries. However, certain trading partners will face higher, “reciprocal tariffs” aimed at penalizing them for their trade barriers. China, Japan, South Korea will jointly respond to US tariffs, Chinese state media says Reuters China, Japan and South Korea agreed to jointly respond to U.S. tariffs, a social media account affiliated with Chinese state media said on Monday, an assertion Seoul called “somewhat exaggerated”, while Tokyo said there was no such discussion. The state media comments came after the three countries held their first economic dialogue in five years on Sunday, seeking to facilitate regional trade as the Asian export powers brace against U.S. President Donald Trump’s tariffs. UK draws up list of US products it could hit with tariffs BBC The UK government is drawing up a list of US products it could hit with retaliatory tariffs after President Donald Trump announced a wave of new import taxes. This is a toughening of the government’s stance as ministers seek to finalise a trade deal with the US. Business Secretary Jonathan Reynolds says he is consulting UK firms about the likely impact of the 10% tariffs being imposed on nearly all UK exports to the US and which products should be on the list. RESEARCH/TECHNOLOGY Defect removal technique paves the way for faster, low-power semiconductors Phys.org A research team, led by Professor Jimin Kwon from the Department of Electrical Engineering at UNIST, in collaboration with Professor Yong-Young Noh and his research team from the Department of Chemical Engineering at POSTECH, reports a new technology to eliminate defects in molybdenum disulfide (MoS2), a promising candidate for the next generation of semiconductor materials, at a temperature of 200°C. Modern semiconductor chips, roughly the size of a fingernail, can contain billions of components. MoS2 is emerging as a promising semiconductor material due to its potential for increasing chip density and minimizing leakage current, which ultimately could lead to heat-free, low-power semiconductor chips—drawing significant attention from industry. A 32-bit RISC-V processor made using molybdenum disulfide instead of silicon Phys.org A team of engineers at Fudan University has successfully designed, built and run a 32-bit RISC-V microprocessor that uses molybdenum disulfide instead of silicon as its semiconductor component. Their paper is published in the journal Nature. Most microprocessors are made using the semiconductor silicon, which has worked out well for several decades. But as researchers attempt to make processors ever smaller, they have run into a dead end with silicon—they cannot make it any thinner. Instead, many researchers have turned to 2D materials such as graphene, but this is challenging because it is a conductor, not a semiconductor. March 28, 2025: Trump pledges auto, pharma tariffs in ‘near future,’ sowing more trade confusion TRADE Trump pledges auto, pharma tariffs in ‘near future,’ sowing more trade confusion CNBC President Donald Trump on Monday said he will soon announce tariffs targeting automobiles, pharmaceuticals and other industries, signaling his plans to pile more sweeping duties on top of his forthcoming “reciprocal tariffs.” Trump at another White House event later Monday added the lumber and semiconductor industries to his list, saying tariffs on those two sectors would come “down the road.” UK not retaliating to Trump’s latest tariff threat, chancellor says Politico Chancellor Rachel Reeves has said the government will not do anything to “escalate” Donald Trump’s trade wars by retaliating to the U.S. president’s latest plan to slap a 25 percent duty on imported cars, as the U.K. holds out hope of an exemption. The new tariffs, announced on Wednesday night, are due to go live on April 3, when Trump also plans on unveiling reciprocal tariffs against U.S. trade partners. “This is the beginning of Liberation Day in America,” the president said from the Oval Office at the White House on Wednesday. “We’re going to take back just some of the money that has been taken from us.” Despite the escalation, U.K. Chancellor Rachel Reeves told Sky News on Thursday morning: “We are not at the moment at a position where we want to do anything to escalate these trade wars. Trump threatens ‘far larger’ tariffs on E.U. and Canada if they unite to do ‘economic harm’ to the U.S. NBC President Donald Trump issued an overnight threat to place “far larger” tariffs on the European Union and Canada than planned if they work together to retaliate in response to his tariffs. Trump made the threat in a Truth Social post early Thursday. “If the European Union works with Canada in order to do economic harm to the USA, large scale Tariffs, far larger than currently planned, will be placed on them both in order to protect the best friend that each of those two countries has ever had!,” Trump said in the post. CHINA FCC probing if Chinese tech, telecom firms seeking to evade US restrictions Reuters The Federal Communications Commission said on Friday it is investigating nine Chinese companies including Huawei Technologies, ZTE, Hangzhou Hikvision, China Mobile, China Telecom, and others to determine if they are seeking to evade U.S. restrictions. The Chinese companies have all been placed on the FCC’s “Covered List” that deems specific communications equipment and services pose a threat to U.S. national security. US adds Chinese tech firms to its export control list, says they sought US knowhow for military use Associated Press China protested Wednesday after the U.S. added dozens of companies to its export control list, including more than 50 based in China that it says sought advanced knowhow in supercomputing, artificial intelligence and quantum technology for military purposes. Companies from Taiwan, Iran, Pakistan, South Africa and United Arab Emirates also were included in the roughly 80 companies added to the “entity list” of the Commerce Department’s Bureau of Industry and Security. Taiwan says China’s SMIC suspected of illegally luring tech workers Reuters Taiwan authorities said on Friday they were investigating whether China’s largest chipmaker SMIC illegally lured Taiwanese tech workers under cover of a shell company on the island masquerading as Samoan. Taiwan, which China claims as its own territory, has been stepping up efforts to stop what it considers illegal activities by Chinese firms to steal know-how and attract talent, often using fake companies as a cover, given the island’s dominance in making advanced semiconductors. INDUSTRY/MARKET The CHIPS Act already puts America first. Scrapping it would poison the well for US investment. Peterson Institute for International Economics The CHIPS Act has brought enormous investment into the US from top semiconductor firms around the world, bringing US manufacturing capabilities closer to the cutting edge and improving US national security. Unlike a tariff-based approach, the CHIPS Act has spurred investment without raising costs that would reduce the competitiveness of the far more numerous semiconductor–using industries like AI companies locked in a high stakes race with China. EU’s Virkkunen says Commission plans new semiconductor support programme Reuters Europe is looking at additional ways to support its semiconductor industry, European Commission digital chief Henna Virkkunen said on Thursday, following calls this month from industry groups and lawmakers for a “Chips Act 2.0.” The original 43 billion euro ($46 billion) Chips Act launched in 2023 failed to reach its top goals but is still regarded as having prevented a deterioration of Europe’s industry in the face of larger state support programmes in the United States and China. RESEARCH/TECHNOLOGY Transistor reshapes electronic properties of a 2D material Phys.org A RIKEN study shows that squeezing the right amount of potassium ions between the atomic layers of molybdenum disulfide can turn it from a semiconductor into a metal, superconductor or insulator. The same layered material can be made to behave as a superconductor, metal, semiconductor or insulator by using a transistor device developed by RIKEN physicists to tweak its electronic properties. The study is published in the journal Nano Letters. Meters closer, miles faster: A novel cryogenic in-memory computing scheme to bridge AI with quantum computing Phys.org Scholars at the School of Engineering of the Hong Kong University of Science and Technology (HKUST) have unveiled an innovation that brings artificial intelligence (AI) closer to quantum computing—both physically and technologically. Led by Prof. Shao Qiming, Assistant Professor at the Department of Electronic and Computer Engineering, the research team has developed a new computing scheme that works at extremely low temperatures. As a critical advancement in quantum computing, it can significantly reduce latency between artificial intelligence (AI) agents and quantum processors while boosting energy efficiency. The solution was made possible by utilizing a special technology known as magnetic topological insulator Hall-bar devices. March 21, 2025: Semiconductor firms call for EU Chips Act 2.0 INDUSTRY/MARKET Semiconductor firms call for EU Chips Act 2.0 Reuters Computer chip makers and semiconductor supply chain firms called on the European Commission to launch a follow up to the 2023 Chips Act on Wednesday, this time focusing on chip design, materials and equipment, in addition to manufacturing. The first EU chips act prompted a wave of investment in manufacturing, but failed to attract cutting-edge chipmakers or address the rest of the supply chain. Most funding was provided by member states, yet projects needed EU approval – a model criticized as too slow. Still, European firms say it provided a counterweight to larger state support programs in the U.S. and China. Nvidia to spend hundreds of billions on US supply chain, says chief Financial Times Nvidia will spend hundreds of billions of dollars on chips and other electronics manufactured in the US over the next four years, its chief executive has said, as the company tilts its supply chain back from Asia in the face of Donald Trump’s tariff threats. The huge spending projection from the world’s most valuable semiconductor group follows multibillion-dollar US investment plans announced by other technology companies including Apple, as the impact of Trump’s “America First” trade policies ripples through the global economy. SoftBank to acquire chip designer Ampere in $6.5 billion deal CNBC SoftBank Group said Wednesday that it will acquire Ampere Computing, a startup that designed an Arm-based server chip, for $6.5 billion. The Japanese giant expects the deal to close in the second half of 2025, according to a statement. Carlyle Group and Oracle both have committed to selling their respective stakes in Ampere, which will operate as an independent subsidiary and will keep its headquarters in Santa Clara, California, according to SoftBank. “Ampere’s expertise in semiconductors and high-performance computing will help accelerate this vision, and deepens our commitment to AI innovation in the United States,” Masayoshi Son, SoftBank Group’s chairman and CEO, was quoted as saying in a separate statement. India, Malaysia discuss expanding cooperation in semiconductors, manufacturing certification CNBC TV18 Union Minister of State for Commerce & Industry and Electronics & Information Technology Jitin Prasada held a bilateral meeting with the Malaysian Deputy Minister of Investment, Trade, and Industry Liew Chin Tong today in New Delhi. The meeting discussed issues pertaining to bilateral trade, market access, collaboration in semiconductors, cooperation in the services sector and issues relating to the Foreign Manufacturers Certification Scheme (FMCS) of the Bureau of Indian Standards (BIS). CHINA Commerce chief seeks industry help to prevent China from getting US chips Reuters Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick said Tuesday the Trump administration is seeking help from companies and foreign governments to prevent China from getting U.S. chips, and reiterated his belief Chinese AI company DeepSeek improperly used American chips. “People took our chips and redirected them to China for money,” Lutnick said at a Bureau of Industry and Security conference. “Sometimes it’s not that much money, and sometimes it’s a lot of money, but they’re seeking to destroy our way of life by assisting those who are against it.” China to spend $55 billion on R&D in 2025 — Semiconductor, AI and quantum computing fields to benefit Tom’s Hardware According to China’s Ministry of Finance, the 2025 central budget will allocate ¥398.12 billion yuan ($55 billion) for science and technology, a 10% increase from 2024. This allocation is the third-largest item in the budget, surpassed only by national defense and debt interest payments. The increase in spending on science and technology by 10%, or $5 billion, emphasizes that China wants to accelerate its national R&D this year, which will speed up its plans for self-reliance in sectors such as semiconductors. $5 billion will not build the country a breakthrough but will rather help with existing projects, particularly in fields such as semiconductors, AI, space exploration, and quantum computing. TRADE US companies race to secure import tariff exemptions after Trump pause Reuters Washington’s temporary relief for import tariffs on goods covered under the U.S.-Mexico-Canada Agreement (USMCA) has triggered a spike in US companies seeking exemption under the trade deal, industry experts said. The White House slapped fresh 25% tariffs on goods from Canada and Mexico on March 5, but later announced that levies on goods covered under the USMCA would be delayed until April 2. UK business minister Reynolds to visit Washington for trade talks Reuters UK business minister Jonathan Reynolds will meet with U.S. Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick and U.S. Trade Representative Jamieson Greer in Washington on Tuesday to advance discussions on a bilateral trade agreement, the British embassy said. Reynolds will discuss deeper UK-U.S. ties to benefit industry, business and consumers, building on discussions first launched by U.S. President Donald Trump and British Prime Minister Keir Starmer during an Oval Office meeting last month, it said. RESEARCH/TECHNOLOGY Tellurium boosts 2D semiconductor performance for faster photodetection Phys.org A group of Carnegie Mellon University researchers recently devised a method allowing them to create large amounts of a material required to make two-dimensional (2D) semiconductors with record high performance. Their paper, published in ACS Applied Materials & Interfaces in late December 2024, could lead to more efficient and tunable photodetectors, paving the way for the next generation of light-sensing and multifunctional optoelectronic devices. “Semiconductors are the key enabling technology for today’s electronics, from laptops to smartphones to AI applications,” said Xu Zhang, assistant professor of electrical and computer engineering. “They control the flow of electricity, acting as a bridge between conductors (which allow electricity to flow freely) and insulators (which block it).” Machine learning uncovers hidden heat transport mechanisms in organic semiconductors Phys.org Complex materials such as organic semiconductors or the microporous metal-organic frameworks known as MOFs are already being used for numerous applications such as OLED displays, solar cells, gas storage and water extraction. Nevertheless, they still harbor a few secrets. One of these has so far been a detailed understanding of how they transport thermal energy. Egbert Zojer’s research team at the Institute of Solid State Physics at Graz University of Technology (TU Graz), in collaboration with colleagues from TU Vienna and the University of Cambridge, has now cracked this secret using the example of organic semiconductors, opening up new perspectives for the development of innovative materials with customized thermal properties. The team has published its findings in npj Computational Materials. March 7, 2025: Global Semiconductor Sales Increase 17.9% Year-to-Year in January SIA NEWS Global Semiconductor Sales Increase 17.9% Year-to-Year in January Press Release “Following its highest-ever annual sales total in 2024, the global semiconductor market maintained momentum in January, hitting its highest-ever monthly sales total for the month of January, despite a slight decline from the month of December,” said John Neuffer, SIA president and CEO. “Year-to-year sales increased by more than 17% for the ninth consecutive month, driven by a 50.7% year-to-year sales increase into the Americas.” INDUSTRY/MARKET Congressional Republicans ‘don’t see a huge appetite’ for Trump’s push to repeal the CHIPS Act NBC Trump, as well as some conservatives, have criticized the legislation as offering subsidies for wealthy companies, with the president suggesting that tariffs would be far more effective in getting semiconductor companies to open up shop in the U.S. While Johnson proceeded to stand and clap following Trump’s suggestion, the reception on Wednesday from other Republicans was far icier. Though Republicans were aware of Trump’s opposition to the legislation, senior lawmakers weren’t given a heads up that Trump would make those demands during his joint address, and they have no plans to take up a repeal of the law anytime soon. What’s at Stake as Trump Looks to Scrap the Chips Act Bloomberg President Donald Trump’s trade war and efforts to bring manufacturing back to US shores have put one of his predecessor’s signature achievements on the firing line: the Chips and Science Act. The Chips Act has spurred nearly $450 billion in commitments to build factories on US soil, amounting to almost $10 of private sector investment for every $1 spent by the government. The law is among the country’s biggest forays into industrial policy. It includes $39 billion in grants to incentivize semiconductor manufacturing and $11 billion for research and development. CHINA China announces high-tech fund to grow AI, emerging industries CNN Fresh off the global success of DeepSeek’s latest artificial intelligence reasoning model, China’s top economic officials have vowed to set up a state-backed fund to support technological innovation. The “state venture capital guidance fund” will focus on cutting-edge fields such as artificial intelligence, quantum technology and hydrogen energy storage, Zheng Shanjie, head of China’s state economic planner, told reporters Thursday on the sidelines of the annual gatherings of China’s rubber-stamp national legislature and advisory body. Exclusive: China to publish policy to boost RISC-V chip use nationwide, sources say Reuters China plans to issue guidance to encourage the use of open-source RISC-V chips nationwide for the first time, two sources briefed on the matter said, as Beijing accelerates efforts to curb the country’s dependence on Western-owned technology. The policy guidance on boosting the use of RISC-V chips could be released as soon as this month, although the final date could change, the sources said. It is being drafted jointly by eight government bodies, including the Cyberspace Administration of China, China’s Ministry of Industry and Information Technology, the Ministry of Science and Technology, and the China National Intellectual Property Administration, they added. TRADE Trump’s trade war draws swift retaliation with new tariffs from Mexico, Canada and China Associated Press President Donald Trump launched a trade war Tuesday against America’s three biggest trading partners, drawing immediate retaliation from Mexico, Canada and China and sending financial markets into a tailspin as the U.S. faced the threat of rekindled inflation and paralyzing uncertainty for business. Just after midnight, Trump imposed 25% taxes, or tariffs, on Mexican and Canadian imports, though he limited the levy to 10% on Canadian energy. Trump also doubled the tariff he slapped last month on Chinese products to 20%. Trump exempting us from tariffs won’t prevent economic damage, says UK’s Reeves Politico Britain’s economy will be hit by President Donald Trump’s trade war with its allies even if the U.K. strikes a trade deal with the White House, Chancellor Rachel Reeves said Tuesday. “It’s absolutely the case that even if tariffs aren’t applied to the U.K. we will be affected by slowing global trade, by slower GDP growth and by higher inflation than otherwise would be the case,” Reeves told hundreds of top British manufacturers at a key industry conference. RESEARCH/TECHNOLOGY New synthesis technology for single-crystal 2D semiconductors could spawn next-generation devices Phys.org A research team has successfully developed a new synthesis technology for 2D semiconductors. This technique enables the direct growth of wafer-scale single-crystal 2D semiconductors on various substrates. The research is published in Nature. With the advancement of artificial intelligence (AI) technology, the demand for enhanced semiconductor performance has increased, along with active research on reducing power consumption in semiconductor devices. As a result, new semiconductor materials to replace conventional silicon are gaining attention. Quantum properties in atom-thick semiconductors offer new way to detect electrical signals in cells Phys.org For decades, scientists have relied on electrodes and dyes to track the electrical activity of living cells. Now, engineers at the University of California San Diego have discovered that quantum materials just a single atom thick can do the job—using only light. A new study, published in Nature Photonics, shows that these ultra-thin semiconductors, which trap electrons in two dimensions, can be used to sense the biological electrical activity of living cells with high speed and resolution. February 28, 2025: Trump’s latest tariff threat could make your life a lot more expensive INDUSTRY/MARKET Trump’s latest tariff threat could make your life a lot more expensive CNN President Donald Trump is eyeing a “25% or higher” tariff on all semiconductor chips the United States imports, with rates likely to “go very substantially higher over a course of a year,” he told reporters on Tuesday. Unlike cars and pharmaceuticals — which Trump said would soon face tariffs of at least 25% — chips are not something the average American buys on their own. But these miniature components power just about every piece of electronics we use. The CHIPS and Science Act, which Congress passed in 2022 with bipartisan support, allocated $53 billion over the next five years to help the US regain a leading position in semiconductor chip manufacturing. The investment and incentives provided to domestic chip producers could help the US triple its chip manufacturing capacity by 2032, according to a 2024 report published by the Semiconductor Industry Association, a trade organization, and the Boston Consulting Group. Trump manufacturing win: Apple to spend $500 billion in U.S., hire 20,000 Axios Apple on Monday morning announced plans to invest more than $500 billion in the U.S. and hire 20,000 people over the next four years, with expansion and construction planned from coast to coast. The new jobs will focus on research and development, silicon engineering, software development, and AI and machine learning. Apple plans to greatly expand chip and server manufacturing in the U.S., plus skills development for students and workers across the country. CHINA China says US plan to toughen semiconductor curb will backfire Rueters The U.S. plan of coercing other countries into going after China’s semiconductor industry will backfire, China’s foreign ministry said on Tuesday. Such actions by the United States will hinder development of the global semiconductor industry, said Lin Jian, a foreign ministry spokesperson, in a regular press briefing, when asked about the White House’s plan to toughen semiconductor restrictions on China. Chip war: South Korean think tank finds China ahead in key semiconductor technologies South China Morning Post South Korea is lagging behind or matching China in “basic competency” in five areas of semiconductor technology, including memory chips and artificial intelligence (AI) chips, according to a report released last week by the Korea Institute of Science & Technology Evaluation and Planning. The think tank report, based on a survey of 39 South Korean experts in the semiconductor sector in 2024, is the latest sign of how China is catching up with global leaders despite US restrictions on the country’s access to advanced chips and chipmaking technologies. TRADE UK-US trade deal could mean tariffs ‘not necessary’, says Trump BBC A trade deal between the US and UK could happen “very quickly”, President Donald Trump said at a joint press conference with Sir Keir Starmer. Speaking during the prime minister’s visit to the White House, Trump envisaged “a real trade deal” which could see the UK avoid the kind of tariffs the president has been threatening on some of the US’s other trading partners. The trip had been seen as a key moment in Sir Keir’s premiership as he sought to influence Trump’s decisions on topics including Ukraine, as well as trade. Trump plans tariffs on Mexico and Canada for Tuesday, while doubling existing 10% tariffs on China Associated Press President Donald Trump plans to impose tariffs on Canada and Mexico starting Tuesday, in addition to doubling the 10% universal tariff charged on imports from China. In a Truth Social post Thursday, Trump said illicit drugs such as fentanyl are being smuggled into the United States at “unacceptable levels” and that import taxes would force other countries to crack down on the trafficking. “We cannot allow this scourge to continue to harm the USA, and therefore, until it stops, or is seriously limited, the proposed TARIFFS scheduled to go into effect on MARCH FOURTH will, indeed, go into effect, as scheduled,” the Republican president wrote. “China will likewise be charged an additional 10% Tariff on that date.” RESEARCH/TECHNOLOGY Using weak spots in semiconductor nanoplatelets to direct nanoscale assemblies Phys.org Cadmium selenide nanoplatelets provide a promising foundation for the development of innovative electronic materials. Researchers around the world have taken a particular interest in these tiny platelets, which are only a few atoms thick, as they offer extraordinary optical and other properties. A team from the Helmholtz-Zentrum Dresden-Rossendorf (HZDR), TU Dresden, and the Leibniz Institute for Solid State and Materials Research Dresden (IFW) has taken an important step toward the systematic production of such nanoplatelets. The researchers were able to gain fundamental insights into the interaction between structure and function, as they report in the journal Small. Penn State to establish advanced semiconductor lab Compound Semiconductor Penn State University’s R&D capabilities in next-generation compound semiconductor technology will benefit from $4.3 million in infrastructure funding and in-kind support through membership of MMEC, a consortium of regional partners focused on microelectronics research and development. The funding from MMEC, part of a broader initiative under the US DoD Microelectronics Commons effort under the CHIPS Act, will help the University establish a lab for semiconductor thin films and device research in the Materials Research Institute’s (MRI) facilities. February 7, 2025: Global Semiconductor Sales Increase 19.1% in 2024; Double-Digit Growth Projected in 2025 SIA NEWS Global Semiconductor Sales Increase 19.1% in 2024; Double-Digit Growth Projected in 2025 Press Release “The global semiconductor market experienced its highest-ever sales year in 2024, topping $600 billion in annual sales for the first time, and double-digit market growth is projected for 2025,” said John Neuffer, SIA president and CEO. “Semiconductors enable virtually all modern technologies – including medical devices, communications, defense applications, AI, advanced transportation, and countless others – and the long-term industry outlook is incredibly strong.” INDUSTRY/MARKET Global chip sales rose 19.1% in 2024 and will hit double digit growth in 2025 thanks to AI | SIA Venture Beat “As semiconductor sales rise globally, America is projected to triple its domestic chip manufacturing capacity by 2032, putting our country in a strong position to reinforce its supply chains and help meet rising global demand,” Neuffer said. “To keep America on top in chip technology, leaders in Washington should advance policies that promote semiconductor production and innovation, strengthen the high-tech workforce, and restore U.S. trade leadership.” As chip sales hit record, US Senate considers Commerce czar Fierce Electronics SIA said America is expected to triple domestic chip manufacturing by 2032. “To Keep America on top in chip technology, leaders in Washington should advance policies that promote semiconductor production and innovation, strengthen the high-tech workforce and retore US trade leadership,” said SIA President John Neuffer in a statement. Thailand lobbies for chip investments as Trump’s trade war with China kicks off Reuters Thailand aims to have an initial draft of a strategic plan for its semiconductor sector ready in the next 90 days, keen to attract fresh investment amid U.S. President Donald Trump’s renewed trade war with China. The country’s national semiconductor board will be hiring a consultancy to develop an industry roadmap, Narit Therdsteerasukdi, the secretary-general of the Thailand Board of Investment (BOI) told Reuters. Narit, who reports to the premier, is also working on roadshows to the United States and Japan to drum up semiconductor investments in Thailand. CHINA China’s ability to launch DeepSeek’s popular chatbot draws US government panel’s scrutiny South China Morning Post China’s ability to launch DeepSeek’s popular chatbot came under scrutiny before a US government advisory panel on Thursday, with one witness stressing the role that American technology played and another cautioning that the country’s ability to “iterate” other breakthroughs in the industry could overcome this factor. Testimony before the US-China Economic and Security Review Commission (USCC) also came with a warning about China’s ability to dominate the “potentially world-changing technology of” artificial general intelligence, or AGI. China targets U.S. coal, gas, Google as Trump tariffs take effect NPR On Tuesday, shortly after the 10% tariffs took effect just past midnight on the U.S. East Coast, Beijing announced a raft of countermeasures. Those include 15% tariffs on American coal and liquefied natural gas and 10% tariffs on crude oil, farm equipment and certain other vehicles. The Chinese counter-tariffs are slated to take effect on Feb. 10. In addition, China’s market regulator announced an anti-monopoly investigation into Google. And the commerce ministry and customs administration jointly announced fresh export controls on a handful of rare metals, including tungsten, indium and molybdenum. TRADE Trump agrees to pause tariffs on Canada and Mexico after they pledge to boost border enforcement Associated Press President Donald Trump on Monday agreed to a 30-day pause on his tariff threats against Mexico and Canada as America’s two largest trading partners took steps to appease his concerns about border security and drug trafficking. The pauses provide a cool-down period after a tumultuous few days that put North America on the cusp of a trade war that risked crushing economic growth, causing prices to soar and ending two of the United States’ most critical partnerships. EU seeks early US talks to avert Trump tariffs Reuters The European Union wants to engage swiftly with the United States over President Donald Trump’s planned tariffs, trade chief Maros Sefcovic said on Tuesday, while his boss Ursula von der Leyen forecast negotiations with Washington would be tough. Sefcovic, speaking at a meeting of EU ministers, said he wanted “early engagement” and was awaiting confirmations of the appointment of Trump’s picks for Commerce Secretary, financier Howard Lutnick, and for U.S. Trade Representative, Jamieson Greer. RESEARCH/TECHNOLOGY Tissue-like hydrogel semiconductors show promise for next-generation bioelectronics Physics World Researchers at the University of Chicago’s Pritzker School of Molecular Engineering have created a groundbreaking hydrogel that doubles as a semiconductor. The material combines the soft, flexible properties of biological tissues with the electronic capabilities of semiconductors, making it ideal for advanced medical devices. In a study published in Science, the research team, led by Sihong Wang, developed a stretchy, jelly-like material that provides the robust semiconducting properties necessary for use in devices such as pacemakers, biosensors and drug delivery systems. January 31, 2025: SIA Applauds House Introduction of Legislation to Strengthen American Chip Manufacturing and Design SIA NEWS SIA Applauds House Introduction of Legislation to Strengthen American Chip Manufacturing and Design Press Release “U.S. leadership in semiconductor research, design, and manufacturing is critical to America’s economy, technology leadership, and national security. The CHIPS Act’s investment tax credit has been hugely successful in strengthening America’s semiconductor ecosystem, spurring substantial private investment and helping to put the U.S. on track to more than triple domestic chip manufacturing capacity by 2032, the largest percentage increase in the world. By extending the duration of the credit, the STAR Act would build on this momentum by promoting further growth in chip manufacturing here in the United States. By expanding coverage of the credit to include chip design, the STAR Act would ensure the U.S. secures the economic, national security, and first-mover advantages of being the global leader in semiconductor technology. At a time when global competitors are making historic investments in their own chip ecosystems, we urge Congress to pass the STAR Act to help America win the chip race, enhance our economic and national security, and reinforce U.S. semiconductor leadership for years to come.” INDUSTRY/MARKET US introduces act to add tax credits for chip designers, extends credits for chip production, too Tom’s Hardware The Semiconductor Industry Association (SIA) is applauding the U.S. House of Representative’s introduction of the bipartisan Semiconductor Technology Advancement and Research (STAR) Act which extends Section 48D of the CHIPS and Science Act, or the Advanced Manufacturing Investment Credit (AMIC). According to the SIA Press Release, AMIC gives an eligible taxpayer a tax credit of up to 25% of a qualified investment in an advanced manufacturing facility for semiconductors and semiconductor manufacturing equipment, but it expires by 2026. However, the STAR Act extends this and expands it to also include investments in semiconductor design. Why DeepSeek could mark a turning point for Silicon Valley on AI CNN Silicon Valley is coming to grips this week with the realization that creating an advanced artificial intelligence model may no longer be as specialized a task as was once believed. The wakeup call came in the form of DeepSeek, a year-old Chinese start-up whose free, open-source AI model, R1, is more or less on par with advanced models from American tech giants — and it was built for a fraction of the cost, apparently with less advanced chips and it demands far less data center power to run. CHINA China urges Japan to rethink planned hi-tech export bans South China Morning Post Beijing will take necessary measures to defend its legitimate interests, China’s Ministry of Commerce said on Friday after Japan announced a series of tech and trade curbs, including sanctions on more than a dozen Chinese companies. “For some time, certain countries have broadened the concept of national security and abused export controls to suppress China’s semiconductor industry,” the ministry said. Tesla joins court challenges to EU tariffs on Chinese EVs Reuters Tesla has joined BMW and Chinese producers in filing a challenge at the Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU) against EU tariffs on China-made electric vehicles, according to a filing on the court’s website on Monday. The challenge will open a new front in Brussels’ conflict with Elon Musk, Tesla CEO and ally of U.S. President Donald Trump. Earlier this month, the EU stepped up its probe into Musk’s social media platform X over content moderation. TRADE North America braces for new Trump tariffs as Saturday deadline nears Reuters Companies, consumers and farmers across North America braced on Friday for U.S. President Donald Trump to impose 25% tariffs on Canadian and Mexican imports within hours, moves that could disrupt nearly $1.6 trillion in annual trade. Trump has set a Saturday deadline to impose the punitive duties over his demands that Canada and Mexico take stronger action to halt the flow of illegal immigrants and the deadly opioid fentanyl and precursor chemicals into the U.S. As Trump returns, the EU rediscovers the art of the trade deal Politico After years in which trade deals just kept slipping away, all the European Union needed was the shock of Donald Trump’s return to the White House to get its act together. Chief executive Ursula von der Leyen and her trade czar Maroš Šefčovič haven’t merely hung about. They moved fast after Trump’s election triumph in November to close out deals that have been stuck in the works for years — even decades — and want to build new relationships to compensate for his threats to throw up a tariff wall around the United States. RESEARCH/TECHNOLOGY Coupled semiconductor lasers generate novel optical patterns, enabling new spectroscopy techniques Phys.org The physical interaction between two or more systems, also known as coupling, can give rise to unique and unexpected effects. In the field of optics, coupled light sources (e.g., lasers) can influence each other, producing complex light patterns that cannot be emitted by individual light-emitting systems. Researchers at Harvard University, Politecnico di Torino and TU Wien have recently shown that a set of coupled semiconductor-based ring lasers can generate unique and interesting optical patterns that would be impossible to produce for a single laser. Light-twisting materials created from nano semiconductors could be a game-changer for optics Phys.org Cornell scientists have developed a novel technique to transform symmetrical semiconductor particles into intricately twisted, spiral structures—or “chiral” materials—producing films with extraordinary light-bending properties. The discovery, detailed in a paper in the journal Science, could revolutionize technologies that rely on controlling light polarization, such as displays, sensors and optical communications devices. January 17, 2025: SIA Releases Policy Recommendations for Trump-Vance Administration and 119th Congress SIA NEWS SIA Releases Policy Recommendations for Trump-Vance Administration and 119th Congress Press Release “To be the world’s economic, technology, and security leader, America must lead the world in semiconductors,” said SIA President and CEO John Neuffer. “It is essential to get in place more government policies that help us run faster at home and abroad, and compete and win in the game-changing technologies of the future. We welcome the opportunity to partner with the new administration and Congress to achieve our shared goals, reinforce America’s semiconductor resurgence, and rise to the great challenges of our time.” SIA Applauds CHIPS Act Incentives for Infinera, Corning, Edwards Vacuum, and GlobalFoundries Press Release “We congratulate Infinera, Corning, Edwards Vacuum, and GlobalFoundries for today’s announced agreements, which address key gaps in a wide swath of the U.S. semiconductor supply chain and grow our domestic production capabilities and resilience. These projects will help the U.S. expand our share of global semiconductor manufacturing, promote American technology leadership, and safeguard our economic and national security. A globally competitive U.S. semiconductor industry will allow us to contest global challenges, boost our economy, enhance national security, and lead the technology race of the 21st century. As we look to the future, it will be crucial to support the semiconductor industry with smart government policies that enable us to run faster here at home and abroad. We welcome the opportunity to continue to work with government leaders in the years ahead to achieve our shared goals and rise to the great challenges of our time.” SIA Applauds CHIPS Act Incentives for Analog Devices, Coherent Press Release “Today’s announcements are a big win for American supply chain security, manufacturing, and economic strength. Domestic semiconductor packaging and test capabilities, mature node manufacturing, and robust wafer production are vital to the resilience of the U.S. semiconductor supply chain. Today’s announced investments will create jobs, boost U.S. innovation, and protect our national and economic security. We applaud ADI and Coherent for investing boldly in the American semiconductor ecosystem and commend the U.S. Department of Commerce for continuing to advance critical CHIPS Act incentives.” SIA Statement on Biden Administration Action Imposing New Export Controls on AI Chips Press Release “We’re deeply disappointed that a policy shift of this magnitude and impact is being rushed out the door days before a presidential transition and without any meaningful input from industry. The new rule risks causing unintended and lasting damage to America’s economy and global competitiveness in semiconductors and AI by ceding strategic markets to our competitors. The stakes are high, and the timing is fraught. We stand ready to work with leaders in Washington to chart a path forward that protects national security while allowing us to do what America does best – compete and win globally.” INDUSTRY/MARKET Biden admin puts new restrictions on AI chip, technology exports The Hill The Semiconductor Industry Association ( SIA ) also said it was “deeply disappointed” the rule was unveiled just days before a change in administration and without much input from industry. “The new rule risks causing unintended and lasting damage to America’s economy and global competitiveness in semiconductors and AI by ceding strategic markets to our competitors,” SIA President and CEO John Neuffer said in a statement. “The stakes are high, and the timing is fraught.” ASU-related projects nab $1.2 billion for new research tied to semiconductor packaging AZ Central Arizona State University-affiliated research programs and laboratories will receive $1.2 billion in new funding for semiconductor packaging, winning two of four new national awards announced by the U.S. Commerce Department on Wednesday. The biggest prize, worth $1.1 billion, will go to the Natcast Advanced Packaging Facility to be built in the ASU Research Park in southeast Tempe. This laboratory will be part of an effort to bridge the gap between research and commercial production and will involve testing new materials and devices used in specific packaging segments. Macom awarded $70M in CHIPS funding Manufacturing Dive The Department of Commerce will provide up to $70 million to chipmaker Macom under the CHIPS and Science Act to expand its facilities in Lowell, Massachusetts, and Durham, North Carolina. The projects will create 350 manufacturing and 60 construction jobs across the two sites, according to the Commerce Department. The funding is part of a broader, five-year capital investment plan Macom announced Tuesday to invest up to $345 million to modernize the two facilities. CHINA Exclusive: Chinese tech firm founded by Huawei veterans in the FBI’s crosshairs Reuters The U.S. Commerce Department and FBI are both investigating a little-known telecoms hardware firm founded by senior Huawei veterans in China over possible security risks, sources and documents show. Founded in 2014, Baicells Technologies opened a North American business the next year in Wisconsin and has since provided telecoms equipment for 700 commercial mobile networks across every U.S. state, according to its website. US finalizes ban on connected vehicle tech from China, Russia Automotive Dive The Department of Commerce issued a finalized rule Tuesday banning the sale or import of connected vehicle hardware and software originating from China or Russia. The action ends a year-long exploration into the potential security threats of external connectivity between bluetooth, cellular or satellite technology and autonomous driving platforms, according to a White House fact sheet. However, the rule excludes trucks and buses, which regulators said will be addressed separately. TRADE UK’s Starmer wants speedy Donald Trump trade talks Politico British Prime Minister Keir Starmer wants to get around the negotiating table and strike a trade deal soon after Donald Trump returns to the White House. Starmer wants talks with Trump’s team to get going in the weeks ahead, he told POLITICO in an interview Thursday. The PM and Trump have already discussed meeting in the U.S. next month, after the president-elect’s inauguration. Speaking on a trip to Ukraine, Starmer played down the threat of Trump’s sweeping plan for U.S. tariffs. “We haven’t had the inauguration yet, so let’s see what the decisions are when we get to that stage,” he said. EU and Mexico revive stalled trade deal as Trump tariffs loom Reuters The European Union and Mexico revived a stalled free trade agreement on Friday, days before the return to the White House of Donald Trump, who has threatened both sides with tariffs. The two parties are seeking to update their trade accord from 2000, which covers only industrial goods, by adding services, government procurement, investment and farm produce. RESEARCH/TECHNOLOGY New process creates ordered semiconductor material at room temperature Phys.org Scientists at the University of Twente have developed a way to create highly ordered semiconductor material at room temperature. This UT research was published today in Nature Synthesis. This breakthrough could make optoelectronics more efficient by controlling the crystal structure and reducing the number of defects at the nanoscale. Diamond continues to shine: New properties discovered in diamond semiconductors Phys.org Diamond, often celebrated for its unmatched hardness and transparency, has emerged as an exceptional material for high-power electronics and next-generation quantum optics. Diamond can be engineered to be as electrically conductive as a metal, by introducing impurities such as the element boron. Researchers from Case Western Reserve University and the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign have now discovered another interesting property in diamonds with added boron, known as boron-doped diamonds. January 10, 2025: SIA Statement on Biden Administration’s Plan to Publish ‘Export Control Framework for Artificial Intelligence Diffusion’ SIA NEWS SIA Statement on Biden Administration’s Plan to Publish ‘Export Control Framework for Artificial Intelligence Diffusion’ Press Release SIA and our member companies share the U.S. government’s commitment to safeguarding national security. We are, however, deeply concerned by the unprecedented scope and complexity of this potential regulation, which was developed without industry input and could significantly undercut U.S. leadership and competitiveness in semiconductor technology and advanced AI systems. We respectfully caution against making such a swift and significant shift in policy during this transitional period, and without meaningful consultation with industry. In the absence of such consultation, we urge the Administration to issue a proposed rule, or hand over the policymaking process to the incoming Trump Administration to ensure there is appropriate opportunity for government and industry leaders, together with our global partners, to thoughtfully address this critical matter.” Global Semiconductor Sales Increase 20.7% Year-to-Year in November Press Release “The global semiconductor market continued to grow substantially in November, hitting its highest-ever monthly sales total as month-to-month sales increased for the eighth consecutive month,” said John Neuffer, SIA president and CEO. “Year-to-year sales increased by more than 20% for the fourth consecutive month, driven by a 54.9% year-to-year sales increase into the Americas.” SIA Commends Finalization of CHIPS Incentives for New Hemlock Polysilicon Manufacturing Facility in Michigan Press Release “Ultra-purity polysilicon is essential for the fabrication of the advanced semiconductors underpinning America’s economic strength, national security, and leadership in AI, autonomous driving, telecommunications, and many other critical technologies. The production of this material is the first step in the semiconductor production process, and it is critical for the U.S. to have domestic capabilities in this area. The incentives announced today will complement HSC’s investments in the domestic production of high-purity polysilicon and help reinforce America’s technology leadership and supply chain resilience. We commend HSC for investing in the United States and applaud the U.S. Department of Commerce for working to allocate critical CHIPS incentives.” SIA Welcomes Announcement of New CHIPS for America R&D Facility in Arizona for Semiconductor Prototyping and Advanced Packaging Press Release “Today’s announcement is a welcome step forward for U.S. leadership in semiconductor innovation, marking significant progress in the implementation of the critical R&D programs enacted in the bipartisan CHIPS and Science Act. The new Arizona facility will benefit from – and build upon – the state’s already-strong semiconductor fabrication and advanced packaging ecosystem. For America to remain the world’s technology leader, it must continue to lead in semiconductor innovation. Driving forward U.S. research in chip prototyping and advanced packaging is critical to keeping America on top in chip technology. We look forward to continuing to work with leaders in Washington to ensure the CHIPS and Science Act’s R&D initiatives and manufacturing incentives remain on track to deliver big benefits for America’s economic strength, national security, and global competitiveness.” INDUSTRY/MARKET Tech group urges US to halt rule that would limit global access to AI chips Reuters A technology industry group on Tuesday urged President Joe Biden’s administration to refrain from issuing a last-minute rule that would control global access to AI chips, warning the restrictions would jeopardize U.S. leadership in artificial intelligence. The Information Technology Industry Council, representing companies like Amazon, Microsoft and Meta, said the rule, which could come out as soon as Friday, would place arbitrary constraints on U.S. companies’ ability to sell computing systems overseas and cede the global market to competitors. The Semiconductor Industry Association issued a statement on Monday night. And on Sunday, Ken Glueck, executive vice president at Oracle, said in a blog post that rather than target activities of concern, the rule “drops the Mother of All Regulations on the commercial cloud industry, regulating… nearly all commercial cloud computing globally for the first time in history.” America’s bet on industrial policy starts to pay off for semiconductors The Economist In the case of CHIPS, by contrast, funds have already been promised to companies contractually, provided they hit specific production milestones. Early returns are impressive: the programme has catalysed about $450bn of private investments. And this money is spread across much of the industry, from high-tech packaging to memory chips. One marker of success is the production of the most advanced chips, measuring less than 10 nanometres in size. In 2022 America made few such chips. By 2032 it is on track to have a share of 28% of global capacity, according to the Semiconductor Industry Association, a trade group. “That is not chopped liver,” says John Neuffer, its CEO. Department of Commerce awards $285m in CHIPS Act funding to digital twin-powered semiconductor manufacturing institute Data Center Dynamics The Department of Commerce has approved a $285 million funding award for the new Semiconductor Manufacturing and Advanced Research with Twins USA (SMART USA) Institute. First announced in November 2024, the SMART USA Institute will be headquartered in Durham, North Carolina. In a statement, the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) said it brings the institute’s combined total investment to more than $1 billion. CHINA Chinese tech companies Tencent, CATL and others protest US listings as army-linked companies Associated Press The U.S. Defense Department has added dozens of Chinese companies, including games and technology company Tencent, artificial intelligence firm SenseTime and the world’s biggest battery maker CATL, to a list of companies it says have ties to China’s military, prompting some to protest and say they will seek to have the decision reversed. In recent years, Washington has sought to restrict sharing of advanced technology, including semiconductors and AI, deeming it to be a threat to national security. US sanctions China’s Integrity Technology over alleged hacking sweep Reuters The U.S. on Friday sanctioned China’s Integrity Technology Group, accusing it of being behind a prolific hacking group known as “Flax Typhoon.” In a statement, the State Department said that Integrity Tech was a large Chinese government contractor with ties to the Ministry of State Security and that its hackers were working at the direction of Beijing to target critical infrastructure in the U.S. and overseas. Last week, U.S. Treasury officials said an unnamed Chinese hacking group had broken into the Department’s computers and compromised an undisclosed amount of data. TRADE Trump warns of new tariffs against Canada, Mexico, EU. And maybe Denmark, too. Politico President-elect Donald Trump on Tuesday repeated his threat to impose tariffs on hundreds of billions of dollars worth of goods from Mexico and Canada to pressure both countries to stop the flow of illegal immigration and cross-border fentanyl shipments. The president-elect made similar complaints about the trade relationship with the European Union. “We have a trade deficit of $350 billion. They don’t take our cars, they don’t take our farm product, they don’t take anything. And so we’re not going to have it with them, either,” he said later in his remarks. India and European nations push for faster FTA launch ahead of Trump’s return South China Morning Post India’s drive to finalise a free-trade agreement (FTA) with the four-nation European Free Trade Association (EFTA) could jump-start talks with the larger EU, fuelling optimism that Brussels could lean closer to New Delhi due to the return to the White House of anti-multilateralist Donald Trump and Europe’s trade row with China. Asked about the status of the agreement with the EFTA last week, Indian Commerce Minister Piyush Goyal said it was “progressing very fast.” RESEARCH/TECHNOLOGY The first observation of time-domain oscillations between two distant semiconductor spin qubits Phys.org Quantum computing holds the promise of outperforming classical computing on some optimization and data processing tasks. The creation of highly performing large-scale quantum computers, however, relies on the ability to support controlled interactions between qubits, which are the units of information in quantum computing, at a range of distances. Researchers at Delft University of Technology (TU Delft) have devised a promising approach to realize coherent quantum interactions between distant semiconductor qubits. Innovative doping technique boosts semiconductor nanocrystal performance Phys.org A research team has successfully developed a new technology to control doping at the nucleus (seed) phase to increase the performance of semiconductor nanocrystals. The study uncovered how the doping process and location differ depending on the type of doping element (dopant). The developed technology is expected to be widely utilized in advanced electronic devices, such as displays and transistors. 1101 K Street NW Suite 450, Washington, DC 20005 E-mail Sign up for SIA News © 2026 Semiconductor Industry Association. All Rights Reserved.