China’s Ministry of Commerce said Monday it had filed a complaint against the U.S. at the World Trade Organization in response to new controls from Washington on semiconductor trade with China, describing the action as a response to trade protectionism.
Beijing will use the WTO’s dispute settlement mechanism to challenge U.S. export controls on products such as chips to China to defend its rights and interests, its Ministry of Commerce said in a statement posted to its website. The ministry said it was responding to a media question in making the announcement.
The rules being challenged require U.S. chip makers to obtain a license from the Commerce Department to export certain chips used in advanced artificial intelligence calculations and supercomputing.
Biden administration officials have said that the rules are needed to prevent China from building up its military and developing new, state-of-the-art weaponry.
An expanded version of this story appears on WSJ.com.
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