By Sherry Qin
The U.S. has lifted some curbs on exports of chip-design software to China, according to three companies that say they are working to restore access to recently restricted products.
Three of the world's top chip-design software developers, California-based Synopsys and Cadence Design, and Germany's Siemens, said they had been told by the U.S. Department of Commerce's Bureau of Industry and Security that recent restrictions on China-bound exports had been lifted.
"Cadence can confirm that BIS has rescinded the export restrictions set forth in the letter issued by BIS on May 23," it said in an emailed statement. "We are in the process of restoring access to our software and technology to affected customers in compliance with U.S. export laws."
Siemens said in a statement Thursday that it too had been notified by BIS that the curbs were no longer in place. The company said it had accordingly restored access to software and technology, and resumed sales and support to Chinese customers, in line with export control laws and regulations.
Synopsys issued a similar statement on its website on Wednesday, adding that it is continuing to assess the impact of export restrictions related to China on its business.
Shares of chip-design companies took a hit in late May when reports about the curbs emerged. Since then, tensions between the U.S. and China have eased. The two sides reached a trade truce in mid-June after talks in Switzerland, including vows to ease nontariff measures.
In exchange for China easing rare-earth curbs, U.S. negotiators agreed to relax some recent restrictions on the sale to China of certain products, The Wall Street Journal reported at the time.
"It is a positive step in that both sides appear to be taking action to uphold the agreements made in Switzerland, which improves odds that this cautious tariff ceasefire could hold," ING economist Lynn Song said.
But it remains difficult for the two sides to reach a grand bargain, he added.
The Commerce Department didn't immediately respond to a request for comment.
Write to Sherry Qin at sherry.qin@wsj.com
(END) Dow Jones Newswires
07-03-25 0411ET
