Russia imports 100-billion-yen US semiconductors - a hole in sanction, 70% via China (2/2)

Recently NHK News on-line reported the following:

ロシアが米半導体輸入1000億円　制裁に穴、中国経由7割 (2/2)

(continue)

新興企業などが取引に関与

別の調査会社のデータによると、22年4月設立の香港企業は9〜12月にロシア企業と計1874万ドル分の取引をしていた。1個1万ドル超の製品も扱っていた。12月までに少なくとも13回にわたり計1万個以上の米半導体を輸出した別の香港企業はロシア人が設立。取引相手はロシアの富豪が所有する企業だった。

インテルや米アドバンスト・マイクロ・デバイス（AMD）のマイクロプロセッサー、米ザイリンクスのFPGA（書き換え可能な集積回路）などが高額取引の対象だった。防衛技術に詳しい未来工学研究所の西山淳一研究参与は「ミサイルなどの制御には演算処理能力の高い半導体が大量に必要となる」と話す。

インテルは日経の取材に「ロシアの顧客への出荷はすべて停止している。当社は輸出規制と制裁を順守し、人権侵害に使われることは容認しない」と答えた。ザイリンクスの親会社でもあるAMDは「正規販売業者には世界のすべての輸出規制の順守を求めている。（日経が挙げた企業はいずれも）正規販売代理店ではない」とした。

米半導体メーカー「不正に転売」「容認せず」

米アナログ・デバイセズ、米テキサス・インスツルメンツ（TI）の半導体も流入していた。アナログ・デバイセズは「（ロシアへの出荷は）当社のポリシーに対する直接的な違反で不正に転売または転用されたものだ」と指摘。TIは「当社製品が設計外の用途で使用されることは容認しない。（不正販売や転売は）半導体業界全体が直面する課題だ」とコメントを寄せた。 

米国はロシアの侵攻を受け、香港の電子部品商社シノエレクトロニクスなどに「ロシア軍を支援した」などとして制裁を科した。ただ、日経調査で米半導体の取引が判明した企業のほとんどは米国の制裁リストに入っていない。米商務省は日経に対し「すでに500社以上を制裁しており、他国と連携して今後も監視を続ける」と述べた。

米国は中国への半導体輸出規制も強化しているが、輸出管理に詳しいベルギーのフランドル平和研究所のディデリック・コップス主任研究員は「サプライチェーン（供給網）が世界中に広がる半導体の最終的な行き先を把握するのは難しく、十分に監督できていない」と指摘する。

半導体の入手に苦労するロシアは「兵器にも汎用の半導体を使っている」（台湾の安全保障アナリスト）。汎用品は転売市場に流れやすく監視が効きにくい。元米通商代表部職員で香港の弁護士のベンジャミン・コスジェバ氏は「香港などの小さな商社は制裁を受けても新しい名前の会社をつくって事業を続ける」と言う。

抜け穴をふさぐのは容易ではないが「官民連携で輸出先企業の調査を徹底し、その情報がグローバルで共有されなければならない」とコップス氏は強調する。軍事向けに転用される可能性の高い半導体を追跡できるようにするなど技術面での対応も重要となる。

 （長尾里穂、野元翔平、小西雄介、関優子、香港=シシー・チョウ、ロンドン=鄭婷方、台北=黎子荷）

Translation

(continue)

Emerging companies, etc. involved in transactions

According to data from another research firm, Hong Kong companies established in April 2022 had a total of $18.74 million in transactions with Russian companies between September and December. They also handled products over $10,000 each. Another Hong Kong company that exported more than 10,000 each US semiconductors at least 13 times up to December was founded by a Russian. The counterparty was a company owned by a Russian billionaire.

Microprocessors from Intel and Advanced Micro Devices (AMD), and US Xilinx's FPGA (programmable integrated circuit) etc. were targets of high-value transactions. Junichi Nishiyama (西山淳一), a research advisor at the Institute of Future Engineering who was familiar with defense technology said, "In the controlling of missiles and others, a large number of semiconductors with high processing power will be needed."

In an interview with Nikkei, Intel said, "We have suspended all shipments to Russian customers. We will comply with export controls and sanctions, and will not tolerate being used to violate human rights." AMD, which was also Xilinx's parent company, supposed that "We require authorized distributors to comply with all export regulations in the world. (None of the companies listed out by Nikkei) are authorized distributors."

US semiconductor maker "Illegal resale" "Not acceptable"

Semiconductors from Analog Devices and Texas Instruments (TI) also entered the market. Analog Devices pointed out that "[Shipping to Russia] was illegally resold or diverted and was in a direct violation of our policy". TI sent out in a comment saying that "We do not tolerate the use of our products for purposes other than those designed. [Unauthorized sales and resale] are challenges facing the entire semiconductor industry."

In response to Russia's invasion, the United States imposed sanctions on Hong Kong-based electronic parts trading company Sino Electronics and others for "supporting the Russian military." However, most of the companies found to have traded in US semiconductors in the Nikkei survey were not on the US sanctions list. The U.S. Department of Commerce told Nikkei, "We have already imposed sanctions on more than 500 companies, and we will continue to monitor them in cooperation with other countries."

The United States was also tightening export controls on semiconductors to China, but Diederik Kops, senior researcher at the Flemish Peace Institute in Belgium who was familiar with export controls pointed out that, " It is difficult to grasp the final destination of semiconductors that is spreading all over the world, and we're not doing enough monitoring."

Russia, which had difficulty in obtaining semiconductors, "uses general-purpose semiconductors for weapons," according to a Taiwanese security analyst. General-purpose products tended to flow into the resale market and were difficult to monitor. Benjamin Kostrzewa, a former U.S. Trade Representative official and a Hong Kong lawyer, said, "Small trading companies in Hong Kong and elsewhere, even if there are sanctions imposed on them, will continue to operate under new names."

While closing the loopholes would not be easy, Mr. Kops emphasized that, "Public-private partnerships must thoroughly investigate exporting companies, and that information must be shared globally." It will also be important to take measures on the technical side, such as making it possible to trace semiconductors that were likely to be diverted for military purposes.

              So, semiconductors made by US manufacturers are circumventing US sanctions and flowing to Russia. Three-quarters of the exportation were sent out from China, including Hong Kong. It is obvious that semiconductor export controls are a key measure to put a brake on Russia's arms productions to reduce its military capabilities.

Note:

1. Xilinx, Inc. (/ˈzaɪlɪŋks/ ZY-links) is an American technology and semiconductor company that primarily supplies programmable logic devices. The company is known for inventing the first commercially viable field-programmable gate array (FPGA) and creating the first fabless manufacturing model. Xilinx is co-founded by Ross Freeman, Bernard Vonderschmitt, and James V Barnett II in 1984 and the company went public on the NASDAQ in 1990. AMD announced its acquisition of Xilinx in October 2020 and the deal was completed on February 14, 2022. (Wikipedia)