The US is about to add Chinese chipmaker Yangtze Memory Tech and dozens of others to its blacklist.

The US government is preparing to impose sanctions by adding 36 more Chinese companies to the Entity List, a move that will severely limit access to US-made technology and components.

The plans, first reported by Bloomberg late Tuesday, said US President Joe Biden’s administration would soon release a full list of companies, according to a person familiar with the matter. The only company confirmed to be on the list is Yangtze Memory Technologies Limited. It was previously a key supplier of 128-layer 3D NAND flash memory chips to Apple Inc. But Apple decided it was too risky to rely on YMTC. Instead, he looked for other suppliers before finally ditching the Chinese company.

Being on the US entity list is a big deal, because it means companies can’t buy any equipment, software or other technology from US companies – unless the US company gets a special export permit from the US Department of Commerce.

YMTC was reportedly added to another list, the unconfirmed list, in early October. The Commerce Department did so after it said it failed to identify the end users of YMTC’s products and that those customers were boosting China’s military.

If a company is placed on the non-verified list, it has 60 days to demonstrate that its products do not violate any export regulations. This usually means that the company must allow the US Department of Commerce to investigate and certify its business. If the checks are not completed satisfactorily, the company will be placed on the list of legal entities.

YMTC has taken some steps to comply with the Commerce Department’s demands. In October, it reportedly asked all of its American employees to leave the company. The Chinese government has worked with U.S. officials to prevent YMTC from being added to the entity list, but efforts have been unsuccessful, according to Bloomberg.

The most famous company on the legal entity list is Huawei Technologies L.D. As a result, most of the software and hardware used in the US will lose access to all kinds of computer chips from companies. According to Intel Corp. and Nvidia Corp. Also from software like Google LLC.

As a result, Huawei’s ability to develop system-on-chip chips is severely limited and its ability to mass-produce them has also been affected. Since then, the US has added dozens of other Chinese companies to the list.

Photo: YMTC