The outgoing Biden administration today said it’s launching a fresh probe into China’s semiconductor industry, with a particular focus on legacy chips that are used in products such as cars, electrical goods and defense systems.

The White House said the investigation stems from the Chinese government’s “non-market policies and practices, as well as industrial targeting” in the chip industry, which enable domestic semiconductor firms to “significantly harm competition and create dangerous supply chain dependencies in foundational semiconductors.”

According to Reuters, the Section 301 probe will examine the “acts, policies and practices” of the Chinese government and how these affect the production of wafers such as silicon carbide substrates, which are widely used as components in semiconductor fabrication.

The main aim of the investigation is to determine to what extent the U.S. has become dependent on legacy Chinese-made chips in industries spanning consumer products, automobiles, telecommunications and the electrical grid.

Reuters said the investigation marks another escalation in Washington’s campaign of pressure on the Chinese chipmaking industry. To date, most of the U.S. pressure has been aimed at preventing Chinese semiconductor firms from being able to manufacture more advanced chips, such as those used by the most powerful artificial intelligence models.

However, the White House is now targeting legacy chips, which are much older systems built using less sophisticated manufacturing equipment and techniques. Chinese semiconductor firms are mass-producing these chips, but they remain several generations behind industry leaders such as Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co. and Samsung Electronics Co. Ltd.

Reuters added that the new investigation falls under the terms of the Trade Act of 1974, and that one potential solution could be to place tariffs on Chinese-made semiconductors.

Under Biden’s administration, the U.S. has already implemented a number of tariffs on China’s technology sector, placing a levy on semiconductors and electric vehicles.

According to Reuters, officials from the Biden administration say they’ll hand over the probe into Chinese legacy chips to incoming President Donald Trump’s team at the end of January.

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