Trump blocks Chinese access to the U.S. semiconductor industry in response to Beijing’s “Manhattan project”

On January 2, 2025, President Trump issued an order blocking the acquisition by HieFo Corporation, a company registered in the state of Delaware and controlled by PRC citizen Genzao Zhang, of the production facilities of Emcore, an American semiconductor manufacturer engaged in the design, fabrication, and processing of semiconductor wafers.

Donald Trump’s order is a targeted step by which Washington firmly delineates the boundaries of Chinese capital’s participation in the American chip sector, making it clear that control over production facilities has become a matter of security, and China’s access to the production of American microchips is unacceptable.

There is a shift in the logic of containment, where the focus moves from US export bans to managing ownership, personnel, and physical infrastructure that ensure critical stages of semiconductor design, fabrication, and testing.