Shares of chip stocks including Nvidia (NVDA), Intel (INTC), and Qualcomm (QCOM) edged down in pre-market trading on Wednesday as the chip war between countries is heating up. China has urged the World Trade Organization (WTO) to step up supervision of the restrictions imposed by countries including Japan, the Netherlands, and the United States on China. These countries have imposed technology export restrictions on China that look at impeding the country’s ability to make advanced chips.
The U.S. had earlier stated that its restrictions on chip exports were concerning national security and as a result, were not subject to review by the WTO. Last week, Japan announced export restrictions on 23 types of semiconductor manufacturing equipment while the Netherlands has also limited similar exports of chip-making equipment.
Japan’s move prompted China’s commerce ministry to issue a statement, “China will take decisive measures to safeguard its rights and interests if Japan insists on obstructing the chip industry cooperation between the two countries.”
In what appears to be a retaliatory move, late last month, regulatory officials from China began a review of some of Micron’s (MU) products.
In the past five trading sessions, the iShares Semiconductor ETF (SOXX) has declined by 1.5%.
