Credit: CFP

TMTPOST -- The United States has rolled back export license requirements for chip design software sales to China, as part of a broader trade agreement aimed at easing recent tensions and restrictions on critical technologies between Washington and Beijing.

According to statements from leading industry players, the U.S. Commerce Department has notified the world’s three top electronic design automation (EDA) providers—Synopsys Inc., Cadence Design Systems Inc., and Germany’s Siemens AG—that they no longer need special government licenses to sell to Chinese clients.

Siemens said it has fully restored access to its software and technologies for Chinese customers. Synopsys and Cadence both confirmed they are in the process of reactivating services in China. The Commerce Department has not commented publicly on the decision or the contents of the letters sent to the firms.

The export curbs were initially imposed in May, as part of a U.S. response to China’s tightening controls over rare-earth mineral exports—materials essential for manufacturing electric vehicles, electronics, and defense systems. But under the terms of a trade deal finalized last week, the U.S. agreed to resume exports of key goods such as EDA software, ethane, and jet engines, contingent on China accelerating approvals for rare-earth shipments.

The brief ban on chip design tools had marked a significant escalation in the U.S. effort to limit China’s advancement in semiconductors and artificial intelligence, adding to previous restrictions on cutting-edge chips and chipmaking equipment.

EDA tools provided by Synopsys, Cadence, and Siemens are indispensable to the global tech ecosystem, enabling the design of everything from high-end processors used by Nvidia and Apple to more basic components like power management chips.