Reference
China Chip Export Controls — A Dated Timeline
Semiconductor export controls and countermeasures since 2019, each dated and attributed to the authority that issued it. Announcements and rules only — no analyst interpretation is presented as fact.
Entries verified through 31 December 2024
Timeline
- China
Gallium, germanium and antimony banned to the US
The day after the US expansion, China moved from licensing to an outright prohibition on exports of these materials to the United States, and tightened graphite review. The one-day gap was the point.
Source: Ministry of Commerce of China
- United States
HBM controls and a large Entity List expansion
Brought high-bandwidth memory under control — the component that makes AI accelerators usable — alongside additional semiconductor equipment and a substantial expansion of the Entity List.
- China
Graphite export controls take effect
Licensing extended to high-purity synthetic and natural flake graphite — the dominant anode material in lithium-ion cells.
Source: Ministry of Commerce of China
- United States
October 7 rules tightened
Closed the gap that let Nvidia ship A800 and H800 parts designed to sit just under the 2022 thresholds, and replaced the interconnect-bandwidth test with one based on compute density.
- China
Gallium and germanium export controls
Export licences required from 1 August 2023 for gallium and germanium compounds, inputs to compound semiconductors, infrared optics and fibre. China supplied the large majority of global primary output of both.
Source: Ministry of Commerce of China
- China
Micron barred from critical infrastructure
The Cyberspace Administration of China found Micron's products a network security risk, barring operators of critical information infrastructure from buying them. China's first substantial retaliation against a US chipmaker.
- Netherlands
Netherlands announces advanced DUV licensing
Brought ASML's advanced immersion DUV systems under national export licensing, aligning the Netherlands with the US measures. Japan announced comparable restrictions the same year.
Source: Government of the Netherlands
- United States
The October 7 controls
The decisive break. Restricted advanced computing chips, semiconductor manufacturing equipment, and — unusually — barred US persons from supporting advanced fabrication in China without a licence. Previous measures targeted companies; this targeted a capability.
- United States
SMIC added to the Entity List
China's largest foundry was restricted, with a presumption of denial for equipment capable of 10nm and below.
- United States
Foreign Direct Product Rule extended to Huawei chip design
Extended US jurisdiction to chips made abroad using US tools or software. The practical effect was to cut Huawei off from TSMC, which no US-origin component ban alone had achieved.
- United States
Huawei added to the Entity List
The Bureau of Industry and Security added Huawei and 68 affiliates, requiring a licence for US-origin technology. This is the action the rest of the decade's controls build on.
Reading the pattern
- The decisive shift was 7 October 2022. Everything before it restricted named companies; that rule restricted a capability, and barred US persons from supporting advanced fabrication in China at all.
- Chinese countermeasures have concentrated on upstream materials rather than finished goods — gallium, germanium, graphite, antimony. These are chokepoints where China holds most of global primary supply, and they are slower-acting but harder to route around.
- Note the dates of 2 and 3 December 2024. The one-day gap between a US expansion and Beijing's outright export ban was not a coincidence, and the pairing is the clearest single illustration of how this has been escalating.