Letters directing a halt to specific tool shipments destined for Hua Hong — China's second-largest chipmaker — were dispatched by the Commerce Department last week to multiple chip equipment firms, Reuters reported. Facilities operated by Hua Hong that Washington believes could be involved in producing the country's most advanced semiconductors are at the center of the new restrictions. Reuters, citing people familiar with the matter, reported that the list of recipients is thought to include Applied Materials $AMAT, Lam Research $LRCX, and KLA. The letters also cover shipments to Huali Microelectronics, the group's contract chipmaking unit, according to Reuters.
A Reuters report from March had disclosed that Huali's Shanghai facility was moving toward 7-nanometer production capability — an achievement that, among Chinese manufacturers, had until then belonged solely to SMIC, the country's largest contract chipmaker.