Previously, this company was also investigated by the US Department of Justice for selling goods to SMIC (China's largest chip foundry company) through a contact in Korea.

Last November, the Commerce Department subpoenaed the company for “information regarding specific Chinese customers.” In February, Applied Materials received similar requests from the Securities and Exchange Commission and two U.S. attorneys general.

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Applied Materials accused of 'circumventing' Washington's export restrictions. Photo: SCMP

Reuters reported that the charges are being moved to a criminal investigation. Applied Materials is a supplier of semiconductor manufacturing tools to Samsung Electronics and TSMC, with 43% of its total revenue coming from the Chinese market.

The semiconductor company is accused of sending hundreds of millions of dollars worth of equipment to SMIC through South Korea without obtaining a license from the US Department of Commerce.

Reuters reported that an investigation last November found that Applied Materials had transferred orders from its Gloucester, Massachusetts, plant to a branch in South Korea before the machines were shipped to SMIC.

Applied Materials, a Santa Clara-based manufacturer of advanced chipmaking machinery founded in 1967, is the largest of the leading U.S. brands in the field.

Applied Materials is one of the companies that received major incentives from the Chips Act, which is designed to boost domestic semiconductor production, according to the WSJ . The U.S. is racing to reduce its dependence on foreign countries while still getting a vital supply of microchips.

(Reuters, SCMP)

TSMC and ASML can disable chip foundry equipment remotely SCMP quoted sources as saying that TSMC and ASML have ways to disable the world's most modern chip foundry machines remotely in the event of a geopolitical crisis.