Trump's Protectionism Backfires as China's Tech Independence Grows

The protectionist policies pursued by the Trump administration to hinder China’s technological progress have proven futile. Sanctions and restrictions on the export of advanced American technology to China have not left Beijing at a loss.

On the contrary, China has continued to develop advanced technology independently. Its chip and artificial intelligence (AI) industries have grown ever stronger, to the point of alarming the United States.

Now it is China that in turn wants to protect its domestic chip technology. Its latest effort is a revision of regulations on chip manufacturing, which will strengthen protection for locally designed chips.

The new rules will protect integrated circuit layout designs, whilst also tightening registration standards and compensation for serious violations.

One of the provisions covers how components are arranged within a chip, as well as design and the core of semiconductor development. It also applies to companies that do not manufacture chips independently.

China’s Ministry of Justice and the National Intellectual Property Administration stated that the regulation will come into force on 15 October 2026, as reported by Reuters on Tuesday (3/8/2026).

This move is China’s latest response after being bombarded with restrictions from the United States. The Donald Trump administration previously limited China’s access to advanced semiconductor design software and manufacturing equipment.

China’s Turn to Restrict Access to America

Beyond the new regulation, Beijing authorities are reportedly considering broader measures to prevent key domestic technology from moving overseas. The Financial Times reported that some of the proposals include restricting the production of advanced chips based on local designs abroad.

China is seeking to make imitation of its work more difficult whilst securing legal rights over designs developed by others.

Alfredo Montufar-Helu, Managing Director at Ankura China Advisor, said Beijing’s efforts aim to filter out claims about quality and differentiate companies by their technological capabilities.

“By raising originality standards, tightening registration requirements and penalising bad-faith applications, Beijing is trying to screen out low-quality claims and distinguish companies with genuine technological capabilities,” he explained.