US-China ‘semiconductor confrontation’ intensifies WTO ‘US steel tariff violation’

As the US-China “semiconductor confrontation” intensified, the WTO made a “violation” decision on the “Chinese steel tariffs” imposed by the US Trump administration.
At a press conference on the 12th, White House National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan said, “We discussed export restrictions to Japan, the Netherlands, and China, which manufacture semiconductor manufacturing equipment.”
Bloomberg said on the same day, “Japan and the Netherlands will join the US in strengthening export restrictions on high-tech and semiconductor-related products to China.” They are two important companies needed for sanctions.”
Yomiuri reported on the 13th that “an announcement may be made in the next few weeks” about cooperation between Japan and the Netherlands semiconductor equipment manufacturers in the United States.
On the 12th, the Ministry of Commerce of China announced that it would file a lawsuit with the World Trade Organization (WTO), claiming that the Biden administration’s restrictions on exports of semiconductors to China were a “violation of trade rules.”
"As we have already communicated to China, these targeted actions are related to national security, and the WTO is not an appropriate forum to discuss issues related to national security," U.S. Trade Representative Adam Hodge said in a statement.
The WTO ruled on the 9th that US tariffs imposed by President Trump (Republican Party) on Chinese steel and aluminum imports “violated global trade rules.”
The administration of President Joe Biden (Democratic Party) maintained the’metal tariff’, which is the core of Trump’s US priority strategy.
The WTO announced last week that a three-member panel of judges "enforces that the United States' actions are inconsistent with WTO rules and recommends that the United States abide by them."
"While China's overcapacity poses a threat to the steel and aluminum sector and national security, the United States will not stand still," the U.S. Trade Representative said in a statement. “he said.
Reuters reported on the 12th that “the ruling can be appealed because Washington blocked the appointment to the WTO Appellate Body, making it impossible to make a ruling.”
Regarding the ruling on imposing steel tariffs, Reuters said, “This case rests on an exemption from world trade rules that the WTO allows in the case of national security. It is not a matter for the three WTO judges to evaluate.”
The Biden administration announced export control policies in October aimed at blocking the entry into China of certain semiconductor chips manufactured anywhere in the world with US equipment to slow China's technological and military progress.
Some of the U.S. controls apply immediately, and top tool manufacturers KLA Corp, Lam Research and Applied Materials Inc (AMAT) have effectively applied to suspend equipment shipments to Chinese-owned factories producing advanced logic chips.
On the 12th, the U.S. Department of Energy announced a $2.5 billion low-cost loan for advanced technology vehicle manufacturing (ATVM) under the Inflation Reduction Act (IRA) to GM, which LG Ensol Korea invested in a battery joint venture.
The ATVM loan under the $430 billion Inflation Reduction Act approved in August was expanded to large trucks, ships and aircraft with an additional $3 billion, but GM's electric vehicle became a beneficiary as it proceeded with a battery joint venture with LG Ensol.
President Biden set 50% of U.S. car production to be electric cars (including hybrid cars) by 2030, and GM immediately announced that it would stop selling gasoline cars by 2035 to produce 1 million electric cars in North America by 2025.
On July 27, Reuters reported on a US Advanced Technology Vehicle Manufacturing (ATVM) loan program involving LG Energy Solutions' joint venture investment in three lithium-ion battery cell manufacturing facilities in the US.