U.S. Rep. John Moolenaar (R-MI) recently requested that the U.S. Department of Commerce consider measures to protect American national security and competitiveness in the increasingly critical silicon photonics industry.
“Specifically, we ask Commerce to consider investigating leading photonics entities based in the People’s Republic of China (PRC) and consider amending the Commerce Control List to explicitly include silicon photonics equipment and products,” wrote Rep. Moolenaar and U.S. Rep. Raja Krishnamoorthi (D-IL) in an Oct. 27 letter sent to U.S. Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo.
In the letter, Rep. Moolenaar and his colleague, who are chairman and ranking member, respectively of the House Select Committee on the Strategic Competition Between the United States and Chinese Communist Party, pointed out the threat of China’s growing silicon photonics industry and the need to bolster domestic innovation in the field.
Photonics, a technology that relies on light particles to transmit information, offers computer systems greater bandwidth and efficiency.
“Silicon photonics represents the next front in our semiconductor competition with the PRC, and the United States is currently not winning this competition,” wrote Rep. Moolenaar and his colleague, adding that Chinese Communist Party (CCP) economists recognize that photonic technology “could allow the country ‘to change lanes and overtake’ the United States” in semiconductors.
They also noted that other CCP-owned enterprises are investing billions of dollars into the industry, which could be used for dual-use military purposes.
“The U.S. government should examine the tools at its disposal — both preventing U.S. investment and know-how from supporting our adversaries and bolstering domestic innovation — to ensure continued American leadership in critical and emerging technologies like silicon photonics,” the members wrote.
The Commerce Department also should consider investigating leading PRC photonics companies, especially those designing equipment for the PRC’s second photonic chip production line, they wrote.
Rep. Moolenaar and his colleague asked Raimondo to answer several questions by Dec. 1, including what she thinks is the national security threat posed by the PRC silicon photonics industry.
“We appreciate the significant steps Commerce has taken on the issue,” they wrote. “Additional steps such as restricting the flow of U.S. technology to key PRC photonics companies and investing in our domestic photonics competitiveness will go a long way towards ensuring American leadership in this critical industry.”