By Eduardo Baptista
BEIJING (Reuters) -Chinese companies should be wary of buying U.S. chips as they are “no longer safe” and buy locally instead, four of the country’s top industry associations said on Tuesday in a rare coordinated response to Washington’s curbs.
The associations cover some of China’s largest industries, including telecommunications, the digital economy, autos, and semiconductors.
Their advice could impact U.S. chipmaking giants like Nvidia (NASDAQ:NVDA), AMD (NASDAQ:AMD), and Intel (NASDAQ:INTC) that, despite export controls, have managed to keep selling their products in the Chinese market.
The associations did not go into details on why U.S. chips were unsafe or unreliable.
The Internet Society of China urged domestic companies to think carefully before procuring U.S. chips and seek to expand cooperation with chip firms from countries and regions other than the United States, according to its official WeChat account.
It also encouraged domestic firms to “proactively” use chips produced by both domestic and foreign-owned enterprises in China.
U.S. chip export controls have caused “substantial harm” to the health and development of China’s internet industry, it added.
The warnings came after the United States on Monday launched its third crackdown in three years on China’s semiconductor industry, curbing exports to 140 companies, including chip equipment maker Naura Technology Group.
