China has started an anti-dumping investigation into U.S. analog chip imports. The Ministry of Commerce launched the probe on September 13 after a petition from the Jiangsu Semiconductor Industry Association. Analysts at Bernstein say this shows that tensions between China and the U.S. are still rising. They also expect it could speed up China’s push to make its own chips.
The investigation is focusing on Interface and Gate Driver chips. These include CAN and RS485 interface transceivers and isolated or multi-channel gate driver ICs. These chips are used a lot in cars, industrial machines, and power electronics. They help with things like signal transmission, isolation, and controlling power devices.
Bernstein looked at how much major U.S. companies rely on these chips in China. Texas Instruments gets about 11.4% of its revenue from China, Analog Devices about 7.8%, and ON Semiconductor about 10.2%. Since China makes up around 20% of Texas Instruments’ and Analog Devices’ total revenue, Bernstein thinks the impact will likely be small.
China said imports of these chips went up 37% from 2022 to 2024 while prices fell 52%, which they say hurt local companies. The probe is expected to last a year, with a possible six-month extension, and will look at imports from 2024 and damage going back to 2022.
Bernstein noted that this could set an important precedent. A similar probe in solar-grade polysilicon led to big tariffs, after which China quickly grew its own solar industry.
Local Chinese companies like Silergy, Novosense, 3Peak, SG Micro, and Joulwatt could benefit. U.S. companies could face some risk, while Japanese and European firms like Renesas and Infineon might see indirect gains.