The U.S. President Banned the Sale of American-Made Chips 0 20

A decree published by the White House on Friday states that HieFo "is controlled by a citizen of the People's Republic of China" and that its acquisition of Emcore's business in 2024 poses risks that it may "take actions threatening the national security of the United States."

Therefore, the decree prohibits the acquisition of "assets including digital chips and related businesses for the design, manufacturing, and processing of wafers" from Emcore.

In 2024, the companies announced the completion of a deal in which HieFo acquired Emcore's chip manufacturing and indium phosphide wafer production business for $2.92 million. At that time, HieFo stated that its co-founders are Genzhao Zhang, former Vice President of Engineering at Emcore, and Gary Moore, former Senior Sales Director at Emcore.

As reported by the U.S. Department of the Treasury following Trump's decree, the Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States identified a threat to national security during its investigation of the deal. The statement does not specify what exactly constitutes the threat to U.S. national security.