The Trump administration appears to be imposing new export controls on chip design software as it aims to further undermine China’s ability to create and use advanced AI chips.
Siemens EDA, Cadence Design Systems and Synopsys have all confirmed that they have received notifications from the US Department of Commerce regarding new export restrictions on electronic automation design (EDA) software to China.
EDA tools are primarily used to assist in designing and verifying semiconductor manufacturing and testing, as well as monitoring performance and quality. They are used by chip foundries, chip manufacturers, networking hardware companies, the automotive industry and more.
Siemens EDA, a division of German high-tech conglomerate Siemens, told TechCrunch last week that it received notifications from the Department of Commerce’s Industrial and Security Bureau (BIS) about new export controls of EDA software to end users of China and China’s military.
“Siemens has supported Chinese customers for over 150 years, and will continue to work with customers around the world to mitigate the impact of these new restrictions while operating in compliance with the applicable national export control system,” the company said.
US-based Synopsys, which also manufactures EDA software, said it also received a similar letter from BIS on Thursday. The company also suspended forecasts for the third quarter and for the full year 2025.
Cadence also received a notice from BIS that it requires a license to “export, re-export, or domestic transfer of electronic design automation software” to its Chinese customers.
The news was first reported by the Financial Times.
New export rules will be created as the US strengthens its efforts to sabotage Chinese companies as the fight for AI hegemony heats up. However, these export controls are increasingly damaging the US chip industry, which has long enjoyed a large market share in China.
Nvidia alone has caused billions of losses due to restrictions on sales of H20 and Hopper AI chips to Chinese customers. The company is even said to be working with rival AMD to its Chinese customers to sell low-power versions of its AI chips.
The US Department of Commerce did not immediately return a request for comment outside normal business hours.
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