US penalizes two Chinese companies that acquired tools for chipmaker SMIC

(Reuters) -The United States on Friday penalized two Chinese firms that acquired U.S. chipmaking equipment for China's top chipmaker SMIC, including them among 32 entities that were added to the Commerce Department's restricted trade list, according to a U.S. government posting. Twenty-three of the 32 were in China. GMC Semiconductor Technology (Wuxi) Co and Jicun Semiconductor Technology were placed on the list, formally known as the Entity List, for acquiring equipment for SMIC Northern Integrated Circuit Manufacturing (Beijing) Corp and Semiconductor Manufacturing International (Beijing) Corporation, the Federal Register posting said.