China filed Monday a complaint against the United States with the World Trade Organization over Washington's semiconductor export control measures, arguing that the world's largest economy has been "abusing" said measures by expanding the concept of national security.
The Commerce Ministry in a statement claimed the U.S. export curbs "hinder the normal international trade of chips" and "threaten the stability of the global supply chain," and accused them of being "a typical practice of trade protectionism."
In October, the United States unveiled a sweeping set of export controls on certain high-end chips that could be used by Beijing to train artificial intelligence systems and power advanced applications in the military and surveillance fields.
The office of the U.S. Trade Representative said Monday that Washington's export controls relate to national security, and that it was inappropriate to discuss them at the WTO.
U.S. export restrictions can be damaging for China, which relies on imports of high-end chips and semiconductor manufacturing equipment.
