(Yicai) Sept. 15 -- China opened two related investigations targeting the US chip sector a day before trade talks between the countries resumed in Madrid.

China’s commerce ministry has launched an anti-dumping investigation into certain US analog semiconductor chips, it announced on Sept. 13. That probe is expected to conclude within a year, with a possible six-month extension under special circumstances, it added.

The investigation was initiated after a Chinese provincial chip industry association submitted preliminary evidence showing that imports of relevant products from the United States surged 37 percent last year from 2022, while their prices plunged 52 percent, harming the domestic industry, Xinhua News Agency cited a ministry spokesperson as saying.

The announcement also came the day before Chinese and US negotiators met in Madrid for talks on economic and trade issues, including the US’s unilateral tariff measures, the abuse of export controls, and ByteDance’s short video platform TikTok, Xinhua reported. The talks are scheduled to run to Sept. 17.

The US government has recently overstretched the concept of national security, abused export controls and long-arm jurisdiction, and maliciously blocked and suppressed China’s chip products and the artificial intelligence industry, the spokesperson said.

Such practices have seriously violated World Trade Organization rules and damaged the legitimate rights and interests of Chinese enterprises, the official added.

The ministry also has launched an anti-discrimination probe into measures the United States has taken against China’s own chip sector. Scheduled to take three months, it too could be extended under special circumstances.

The probe will examine the additional tariffs on Chinese integrated circuits imposed under the US Section 301 investigation since 2018, and the measures introduced since 2022 that restrict exports of IC products and manufacturing equipment to China and limit US personnel from taking part in Chinese semiconductor projects.

This investigation will also look into the US Chips and Science Act and related rules that restrict certain companies and individuals from carrying out economic, trade, and investment activities in related fields in China.

Moreover, it will cover the US government’s recent warnings on the alleged potential risks of using China’s advanced computing integrated circuits, including Huawei Technologies’ Ascend chips, and possible consequences of allowing US chips to be used for training and inference of Chinese AI models.

China will take corresponding measures against the US based on the actual situation following the probe, the spokesperson said, adding that the country will take all necessary measures to defend the legitimate rights and interests of Chinese enterprises.

Editors: Dou Shicong, Futura Costaglione