Washington (AFP) - The United States announced new export restrictions Monday targeting China’s ability to make advanced semiconductors, drawing swift condemnation from Beijing as competition deepens between the world’s two biggest economies.

The move expands Washington’s efforts to curb exports of state-of-the-art chips to China, which can be used in advanced weapons systems and in artificial intelligence.

The announcement comes weeks before President-elect Donald Trump returns to the White House, where he is expected to bolster Washington’s hawkish stance on China.

“The United States has taken significant steps to protect our technology from being used by our adversaries in ways that threaten our national security,” said National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan in a statement.

He added that Washington will keep working with allies and partners “to proactively and aggressively safeguard our world-leading technologies and know-how so they aren’t used to undermine our national security.”

Beijing vowed Monday to defend its interests, with a Chinese commerce ministry spokesperson saying the United States “abuses export control measures” and has “hindered normal economic and trade exchanges.”

The latest US rules include a restriction of sales to 140 companies, including Chinese chip firms Piotech and SiCarrier, without additional permission.

They also impact Naura Technology Group, which makes chip production equipment, according to the Commerce Department.

Others include entities in Japan, South Korea and Singapore.

The new US rules also include controls on two dozen types of chip-making equipment and three kinds of software tools for developing or producing semiconductors.

“We are constantly talking to our allies and partners as well as reassessing and updating our controls,” noted Under Secretary of Commerce for industry and security Alan Estevez.

- Military focus -

Thibault Denamiel, a fellow at the Center for Strategic and International Studies, told AFP that the latest actions confirm “the trajectory of US policy rather than significantly stepping up control efforts.”

“The significance of the additions is lessened given proposals from the incoming Trump administration,” he added, noting the president-elect has vowed drastic actions that dwarf these latest restrictions on chip technologies.

Monday’s restrictions further a policy that began under Trump’s first administration to prevent China from becoming a leading tech economy.

On Monday, Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo stressed that President Joe Biden’s administration has been especially tough in “strategically addressing China’s military modernization through export controls.”

The Commerce Department said that the fresh restrictions are meant to slow China’s development of advanced AI that could “change the future of warfare,” and impair China’s development of its own semiconductor ecosystem.

But the agency maintained that this is in line with Washington’s “small yard, high fence” policy, which targets restrictions strategically – an approach that Chinese President Xi Jinping criticized last month.

Calls to further close the semiconductor supply chain have grown since the world became increasingly aware of the powers of AI, with the launch of ChatGPT.