China is still years behind the U.S. despite Huawei's breakthrough chips, Raimondo tells '60 Minutes'

Source: CNBC
Author: Dylan Butts

WASHINGTON, DC - JULY 25: U.S. Secretary of Commerce Gina Raimondo listens as U.S. President Joe Biden participates virtually in a meeting on the Creating Helpful Incentives to Produce Semiconductors (CHIPS) for America Act, in the South Court Auditorium at the White House on July 25, 2022 in Washington, DC.

Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo on Sunday downplayed Huawei Technologies' latest microchip breakthrough, arguing the U.S. remains far ahead of China in the critical technology.

The comments, made on CBS News' "60 Minutes," are in line with the Commerce secretary's stance that the Biden administration's restrictions on chip sales to China are working, despite an advanced made-in-China chip surfacing in a Huawei phone last year.

"It's years behind what we have in the United States. We have the most sophisticated semiconductors in the world. China doesn't. We've out-innovated China," Raimondo said in the interview which aired Sunday evening in the U.S.

U.S.-blacklisted Huawei released the Mate 60 Pro smartphone in August, which sported a 5G-capable chip -- a feat thought to have been made difficult by a series of U.S. export controls in late 2022. The phone launched while Raimondo was on a visit to China.

Prior to the trip, it was reported that Raimondo's email had been accessed by Chinese-linked hackers.

"I have their attention, clearly," she said, adding the U.S. would continue to pursue actions to protect U.S. national security and businesses.

According to a senior Commerce Department official, Huawei's chipmaking partner SMIC "potentially" violated U.S. law by providing an advanced chip to the Chinese phone maker.