Having barely decided on methods to counter one of China's threats in the form of cheap electric vehicles, the European Commission has moved on to another area, investigating imports of cheap Chinese-made semiconductor components . European officials are already conducting a survey among market participants about the degree of influence of this factor on their activity.
By September, the European Commission is expected to conduct two surveys among European consumers and manufacturers of semiconductor components on the topic of dependence on Chinese chip supplies. Participation in the study will be voluntary, but European authorities are already consulting with interested companies. If necessary, EU and US authorities will take action against violations of fair market conditions, European officials said in response to a Reuters inquiry.
According to Western politicians, China's efforts to subsidize the development of chip production will allow the country to reduce its dependence on their imports, but the next step will inevitably be the expansion of markets and respectively cheap products for foreign markets. It can also lead to overproduction and falling prices, leading to losses for market participants.
For now, the European Commission only collects information from the participants of the European market of semiconductor components and electronic devices about the supply channels of the used chips, their assortment and prices. European suppliers are also invited to provide evaluation information on similar parameters of products supplied by Chinese manufacturers.
It is clear that China's expansion in chip manufacturing is affecting European business in a variety of ways. Suppliers of Chinese ASML chip manufacturing equipment are clearly taking advantage of this trend. European chipmakers, on the one hand, are forced to compete with Chinese ones, but at the same time they have enterprises in China whose products can be imported into Europe.
Manufacturers of specific equipment may not want to disclose their degree of dependence on Chinese chip supplies, and the complex production chain itself sometimes prevents the origin of certain components from being unequivocally established. From this point of view, the investigation methodology of the European authorities cannot be considered impeccable.