China’s Analog Retaliation in the Chip War
Beijing isn’t just targeting AI chips–mature ICs are now in the firing line. No safe zones left.
Editor’s note: This is Flashpoint, Hello China Tech’s premium quick-strike column. In under 600 words, we cut through the noise to unpack one market-moving China tech event and why it matters. Flashpoint drops whenever the story demands it–weekdays or weekends.
Today’s column dissects Beijing’s new anti-dumping probe into US analog semiconductors. By targeting the unglamorous “workhorses” of the chip industry, China is signaling that even mature, low-margin components are now weapons in the tech war. For the Flashpoint overview, see our introduction here.
The US–China tech war has opened a new front. Beijing is no longer limiting its retaliation to symbolic measures or the high-end race in AI processors. By launching an anti-dumping probe into US analog semiconductors, China is striking at the cash cows of American chipmakers and signalling that even the “safe” corners of the supply chain are now contested territory.
On September 13, China’s Ministry of Commerce (MOFCOM) announced an investigation into two types of US-made analog chips: commodity interface ICs and gate driver ICs. These are not glamorous components. Built on mature 40-nanometer and older processes, they are the quiet workhorses behind everything from PC motherboards and routers to factory equipment and cars. Yet without them, global electronics would grind to a halt.
The complaint, filed by the Jiangsu Semiconductor Industry Association, claims serious injury. Between 2022 and 2024, imports of these chips from the US rose 37% in volume while average prices collapsed 52%. The implied dumping margin–300%–was chosen for maximum headline shock value. Whether the numbers withstand scrutiny is secondary; the message is political.
The timing underlines that point. The move came one day after Washington added 23 Chinese firms to its export-control Entity List, and just before bilateral trade talks in Madrid. This is calibrated brinkmanship: Washington squeezes China’s access to leading-edge technology, Beijing retaliates by threatening the profit engines of US incumbents.
But how much revenue do U.S. chipmakers really have at stake—and why does Beijing think analog is the perfect pressure point? That’s where our analysis begins.