[News] China Opens Analog Chip Dumping Probe Against TI, Broadcom and Others Over 300% Margin

Ahead of a new round of U.S.-China trade talks in Spain from September 14 to 17, Beijing has stepped up pressure on Washington. On Saturday, China’s Ministry of Commerce announced anti-dumping investigations targeting U.S. analog chips from Broadcom, Texas Instruments, Onsemi, and ADI, according to Reuters and Chinese local media outlet Yicai Global.

Yicai, citing China’s Ministry of Commerce, reports that imports of certain U.S.-made analog chips jumped 37% from 2022 to 2024, while prices plunged 52%, undercutting local products and hitting domestic manufacturers hard. As the report highlights, the dumping margin on these chips exceeds 300%, while these products commanded an average 41% share of China’s market.

40nm+ Analog Chips Under Scrutiny

Commercial Times notes that, according to the Jiangsu Semiconductor Industry Association, the investigation focuses on U.S.-made analog chips built on 40nm or larger processes—namely, general interface chips and gate driver chips.

Yicai reports that during the 2024 probe period, U.S. analog chips saw “extraordinary” dumping margins: 302.41% for general interface chips and a staggering 458.51% for gate driver chips—well beyond normal trade levels, pointing to blatant dumping.

Imports of these U.S.-made analog chips into China surged from 1.159 billion units in 2022 to 1.59 billion in 2024, up 12.07% in 2023 and 22.36% in 2024—a two-year jump of 37.13%, the report suggests.

Notably, the rising shipments have also chipped away at domestic players: as noted by Yicai, U.S. products’ share of China’s total analog chip imports climbed from 47.81% in 2022 to 62.14% in 2024, averaging 54.34% over three years, making them the dominant supply source.

Aggressive Pricing Strategy

As per ijiwei, these U.S. analog chips are aggressively undercutting local products, squeezing domestic firms’ room to compete. The report takes Texas Instruments as an example: its TCAN1043DRQ1 (CAN interface chip) plunged from RMB 2.10 in early 2022 to RMB 1.13 in late 2024, a 46% drop. Its gate driver chips—UCC21520QDWRQ1 (isolated) and UCC27524AD (non-isolated)—fell even more, by 50% and 53% respectively.

The report notes that the situation has hammered Chinese chipmakers’ profitability. In 2024, average gross margins on local analog chips fell 33.41% year-on-year, with interface chip margins plunging 38.76% and gate driver chips down 22.68%, ijiwei adds.

It is worth noting that Beijing’s anti-dumping investigation came shortly after Washington’s aggressive action on Friday, which added 32 entities—including 23 in China—to its restricted trade list, Reuters reports. The list included two Chinese firms accused of supplying U.S. chipmaking equipment to SMIC, China’s top foundry, the report indicates.

Read more

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• [News] China’s New Chip-Origin Rules Put Foundries and IDMs on Edge: Key Updates from 35 U.S. Fabs

(Photo credit: Texas Instruments)