Trying to Restrict China in Chips a Fool’s Errand: Raimondo

US Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo, who has been leading the Joe Biden administration’s effort to restrict China’s progress in developing and using advanced chips, now says the effort is a “fool’s errand.”

“Trying to hold China back is a fool’s errand,” Raimondo said in an interview with the Wall Street Journal, adding that investing in building a chip supply chain was more effective than export controls to counter tech rival Beijing.

Raimondo said export controls were mere “speed bumps” for China and had not slowed the country’s push for tech dominance or its progress in building semiconductor capabilities.

“The only way to beat China is to stay ahead of them… We have to run faster, out innovate them. That’s the way to win,” Raimondo told the WSJ.

Raimondo’s comments come ahead of the return of president-elect Donald Trump to the White House in January. Trump has been a strong critic of Biden’s CHIPS Act, which has allocated billions of dollars for American and foreign chipmakers to step up semiconductor investments in the US.

“You didn’t have to put up 10 cents. You could have done it with a series of tariffs,” Trump said while on his campaign trail, and his since promised to cut chip funding promised under the act.

Earlier this month, Raimondo said that was a “horrific”, “reckless” idea that would only benefit China.

Read the full report: The Wall Street Journal.