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Government Hardware

Russia Could Hit U.S. Chip Industry, White House Warns (itnews.com.au) 115

Reuters reports: The White House is warning the chip industry to diversify its supply chain in case Russia retaliates against threatened U.S. export curbs by blocking access to key materials, people familiar with the matter said.

The potential for retaliation has garnered more attention in recent days after Techcet, a market research group, published a report on February 1 highlighting the reliance of many semiconductor manufacturers on Russian and Ukrainian-sourced materials like neon, palladium and others. According to Techcet estimates, over 90 percent of U.S. semiconductor-grade neon supplies come from Ukraine, while 35 percent of U.S. palladium is sourced from Russia. Peter Harrell, who sits of the White House's National Security Council, and his staff have been in touch with members of the chip industry in recent days, learning about their exposure to Russian and Ukrainian chipmaking materials and urging them to find alternative sources, the people said.

A "senior official" told Reuters, "We understand that other sources of key products are available and stand ready to work with our companies to help them identify and diversify their supplies."

Thanks to long-time Slashdot reader schwit1 for sharing the story.
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Russia Could Hit U.S. Chip Industry, White House Warns

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  • Not my heckin' Pringles!

  • Meh (Score:4, Interesting)

    by Anonymous Coward on Sunday February 13, 2022 @05:35PM (#62264707)

    Russia is the largest Palladium supplier in the world, but the 2nd, 3rd, and 4th are South Africa, Canada, and the US respectively. Ditching Russia for Palladium is a complete non-issue and probably for the best. Prices might go up a little bit but with the extreme price rises caused by general chip production shortages right now it'll be irrelevant in the grand scheme of things and slightly increased Palladium prices will be lost in reductions in overall chip costs as the chip supply crisis cools down.

    Given the way Russia has acted over European gas then no one should be relying on them for natural resources anyway; at best they should be somewhere you go to get lower prices if available, but with a more reliable backup alternative available the rest of the time - a take it or leave it type scenario.

    So this is probably just a sane correction regardless. I don't know about neon or the other resources they mention, but I'd be surprised if much else can't be sourced elsewhere; ironically the sorts of things Russia is good at supplying like oil and gas are the sorts of things we should be weaning ourselves off anyway, and the sorts of things we should be replacing them with like Uranium for nuclear power are heavily oriented to Western friendly territories; the biggest supplies being available in countries like Australia, Canada, and the US.

    tldr; this is only a problem if companies are too lazy to have already made sure they have alternative source available if need be, that's something companies should do regardless of what the resource is or where it comes from, and there doesn't seem to be anything here that's exceptionally hard to source from elsewhere. I doubt even for a minute that countries like South Africa would be anymore expensive a source than Russia so I'm not even sure there would be a cost impact even.

    • by PPH ( 736903 )

      Russia is the largest Palladium supplier in the world

      Odd. I figured that this would be tweakers with Sawzalls.

    • by Ost99 ( 101831 )

      I could have sworn it was polonium-210 they were exporting.

    • " According to Techcet estimates, over 90 percent of U.S. semiconductor-grade neon supplies come from Ukraine"

      If only we had an independent source for air ...

    • Re: (Score:2, Informative)

      by hugetoon ( 766694 )

      "Given the way Russia has acted over European gas" What did they do exactly ?
      As far as I know all the contracts were and continue do be fulfilled.
      Moreover some increase demands are also fulfilled even though it's not a contractual obligation.

      • Re: (Score:3, Informative)

        by Anonymous Coward

        I'm not entirely sure why I'm replying to you, because that sort of question seems so obviously ignorant I can only assume you're trolling for Russia given you appear to know a bit about it whilst failing to, presumably accept the full picture.

        But I'll try anyway, on the off-chance you genuinely have managed to somehow only been shown the Russian version of events. So as for what they did, they significantly reduced gas supplies to Europe to artificially inflate prices by over 200%. Saying contracts are ful

        • Prices went up because Europe took Russia to court to break long terme contracts in order to get prices at the market price. This was done when prices were low but now that prices go up they complain about paying at stock market. Why do they go up ? Because Germany went all in with green energy and now compensate by burning more gas. Europe played dirty about gas now they cry.

        • by whitroth ( 9367 )

          They "artificially increased prices"?

          You mean the way futures traders spent a lot of the last 20 years keeping oil tankers at sea, to jack up gasoline prices?

        • Comment removed based on user account deletion
    • It may become necessary to formally annex the Northern Corporate Appendage for the palladium must flow.

    • why is palladium needed for chip manufacture ? What is its role?
  • by Catvid-22 ( 9314307 ) on Sunday February 13, 2022 @05:38PM (#62264715)
    My take-away from this and other crises like Covid-19 is that inefficiency isn't necessarily a bad thing. The laser focus on efficiency has led to situations where a bottleneck or outright failure in one country (say, because of floods or pandemic lockdowns) cascades across the global economy. Backups are an inefficient use of system resources until your storage crashes. Do we have a backup for the PRC dominance of cheap electronic goods manufacturing?
    • That’s why it’s called RAID0
    • inefficiency isn't necessarily a bad thing

      Yes it is - inefficiency is always a bad thing. What I think you are trying to say is that there is value in a robust / diverse supply chain - and I think everyone would agree with you. The only question is how much is this value in terms of dollars?

      With a stable world economy and no international tensions, the value of a robust / diverse supply chain is minimized. It is sort of like insurance - with low risk the value of the insurance (ie, cost) is also low. But this is dependent on the world being

    • I think you have the right idea, but I'm not sure "efficiency" is the real mistake.
      I think we're reaping the reward of not insuring diverse, competitive industries.
      We have laws to handle this problem, but we let corporate interests come before national policy.
      • Do you know of a better word? I'm still fumbling for it. The image I had in mind while typing my original post was the stereotype of the "modern" Japanse office which still relies on fax machines and hand stamped seals. It's inefficient when compared to purely digital workflows consisting of PDFs but at least quite literally leaves a paper trail.
  • as it makes nations afraid to attack others in case they can no longer buy $commodities. In a similar way other nations can cut Russia off from goods & services if it attacks.

    However: this is also exposing eggs-in-one-basket vulnerabilities, a single source of something could also be stopped for other reasons. Something like this happened a few years ago, IIRC it was an earthquake in Kobe, Japan which was the sole source of a material needed for chip production, the effects lasted some time - I cannot f

    • by drnb ( 2434720 ) on Sunday February 13, 2022 @05:53PM (#62264737)

      Globalisation is good for peace as it makes nations afraid to attack others in case they can no longer buy $commodities.

      It works both ways. Many EU countries are afraid to retaliate against a Russian invasion of Ukraine because they are dependent upon Russian energy. Dependency can work against peace too, inhibit meaningful economic sanctions that could prevent a war.

  • by drnb ( 2434720 ) on Sunday February 13, 2022 @05:57PM (#62264747)
    First its crypto, nows its Putin. Just give up hope and accept that your next 5 years of gaming will be on a GTX 1050.
    • Or you could sit down like adults and engage in diplomacy.
      • by drnb ( 2434720 )

        Or you could sit down like adults and engage in diplomacy.

        That requires adults acting reasonably and in good faith. You don't get that with Putin.

    • Just give up hope and accept that your next 5 years of gaming will be on a GTX 1050.

      Where did you find 1050's in stock? I'm feeling the need for some Angry Birds.

  • If Quebec wants to secede from Canada, let them vote for it!
    If Catalonia wants to get away from Spain, why not?
    If Donbass wants to go away from Ukraine and be annexed by Russia, let them! ...
    Why do Americans have to get involved everywhere in the world? Vietnamn, Iraq, Libya, Syria, Afghanistan, ... and now Ukraine.
    Carter was the only president who didn't start a war.

    • If Donbass wants to go away from Ukraine and be annexed by Russia, let them! ...

      Yeah but it should be done by vote, not by violence.

      • This is what they did, then Kiev resorted to violence.

      • by MS ( 18681 )

        You think they would let them vote?
        You already forgot what happened in Krim? More than 95% of people voted to be annexed by Russia, but intenational forces didn't recognise the vote. The Krim invited OSZE-observers to be present while the vote was held, but western countries didn't allow them to go... nobody should report, that the vote was legit!

        The problem is not Russia, the problem is the USA.

        • Re:Jimmy Carter (Score:5, Insightful)

          by phantomfive ( 622387 ) on Sunday February 13, 2022 @09:06PM (#62265035) Journal

          You already forgot what happened in Krim? More than 95% of people voted to be annexed by Russia, but intenational forces didn't recognise the vote.

          In Crimea, the morons invaded and then had an election. That's not exactly a fair election. You need to turn your brain on.

        • Fuck off, Comrade.

          The demographics of the area do support the hypothesis that a free plebiscite would have resulted in separation, so I'll give you that.
          But the demographics also say something else.
          That a 97% vote to affirm is fucking laughable.
          That's so fucking #Russia, I had to clean coffee off my keyboard twice just typing it.

          But ya, an occupied piece of land... near unanimous vote to leave, despite a demographic of 24% ethnic Ukrainians, and 12% Tartars (who would rather fucking die than ever be
    • Trump didn't start any wars
  • by VeryFluffyBunny ( 5037285 ) on Sunday February 13, 2022 @06:28PM (#62264789)
    Russia tried to install nukes in Cuba. Understandably, the USA didn't like having nukes so close & so the USA & Russia had a show-down that nearly resulted in WWIII. Now the USA's trying to put anti-Russian missile defence systems in Ukraine & they're offering Ukraine the possibility of entering NATO & eventually the EU to sweeten the deal. Understandably, Russia doesn't want anti-missile defences so close to its borders &, again, the USA & Russia are having another show-down. All this sabre rattling is supposed draw opponents into diplomatic negotiations but both sides will wait until they think they have the best advantage they can hope for. It's a dangerous game. What we see in the press ATM is pure propaganda; as the old adage goes, "Truth is the first casualty of war." It's all too easy for something like this to go horribly wrong & for a lot of people to die. We can't let our governments believe that they have our popular support in this. Don't get drawn into supporting this conflict. If anything, we should be protesting against it.
    • by ChatHuant ( 801522 ) on Sunday February 13, 2022 @06:50PM (#62264825)

      I think that's a false analogy, bordering on propaganda.

      There is a big difference between installing nukes - which are exclusively an offensive weapon - and installing anti-missile defense systems, which are - pretty much by definition - designed for defense. The one who objects to the other side defending itself is the one who intents aggression. Both in Cuba and in Ukraine, the aggressor was Russia and the defender was NATO/the USA.

      Note that NATO did propose to Russians that both sides can inspect the advanced bases in both countries for offensive weapons, like Tomahawk missiles. Russia refused. This proves they're not afraid of being attacked themselves. They're afraid they can't attack and conquer other countries with impunity.

      • by djinn6 ( 1868030 )

        Someone doesn't understand how the concept that prevented WW3 from happening for 70 years works. When both sides have weapons that can destroy the other in minutes, the side with a way to counter such destruction is able to launch attacks with impunity. For peace to be exist, neither side can acquire such capability.

        • by ChatHuant ( 801522 ) on Sunday February 13, 2022 @10:10PM (#62265121)

          I do know about MAD; I don't believe it applies here. I think references to MAD are just Russian propaganda points, mainly targeting internal consumption.

          Let me explain. The whole idea of mutually assured destruction is that any attacker will be destroyed too by the inevitable counter-strike. From the Russian point of view, the aggressor they're concerned about is the USA (they said this repeatedly, and the idea that Ukraine or EU countries like Poland would attack Russia by themselves is just idiotic), so MAD means the destruction of the USA. However the anti-missile defense systems in Poland and Romania may defend Western Europe, but they surely won't stop missiles targeting continental USA. They're on the wrong side of the Asian continent for that.

          If Russians were concerned about MAD, they would request that anti-missile bases in the continental USA should be dismantled. Those are the ones that defend their putative aggressor. But Russia doesn't do that. It means it's not MAD Putin cares about.

          What I think is that Putin is worried about the continuing falling behind of Russia, and the growing dissatisfaction of the people. Saber-rattling is a time honored tool dictators use to distract their population, and one more comfortable to Putin than addressing the real Russian problems - corruption, theft, deficits in democracy.

          • by djinn6 ( 1868030 )

            You realize France and the UK has nukes too right? And not just a few either. Plus there's American nukes in Germany. MAD applies to all of them.

            You're also assuming the missiles are for mid-phase or terminal defense. However, the most effective anti-missile systems actually targets the ascent phase. A fixed base in Ukraine can render all launches within a few hundred miles vulnerable, including those near Moscow.

            And that's assuming we're actually being honest about what missiles are placed there. Russia ca

      • AEGIS ashore uses the Mk. 41 VLS launch system. Those VLS cells can carry the SM-6 missile but they can also carry Tomahawk and any other weapon which can be used on the Mk. 41 VLS.

      • It is a valid analogy if you look at the broader picture. The Cuban Missile Crisis was instigated as a response to the installation of Jupiter ballistic missiles in Turkey, both the US and the Soviet Union at the time view countries this close to their land as their vital strategic interests. The US's Monroe doctrine in particular does not tolerate any country in the Americas allying with other foreign unfriendly powers. They even went as far as installing pro-American authoritarian governments in some of t

    • by drnb ( 2434720 ) on Sunday February 13, 2022 @06:56PM (#62264837)
      Its funny how you conflate defense missiles with offense missiles. In you own words you characterize the USA equipment as "anti-Russian missile defence systems". How dare the USA help friends to obstruct the Russian's "right" to launch offensive missiles at its neighbors. How dare the USA deny the Russian sphere's of influence that Stalin negotiated with Hitler before they took their agreed upon halves of Poland in 1939.

      "The Molotov–Ribbentrop Pact was a non-aggression pact between Nazi Germany and the Soviet Union that enabled those two powers to partition Poland between them ... In addition to the publicly-announced stipulations of non-aggression, the treaty included the Secret Protocol, which defined the borders of Soviet and German spheres of influence across Poland, Lithuania, Latvia, Estonia and Finland ... The rumour of the existence of the Secret Protocol was proved only when it was made public during the Nuremberg Trials."
      https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/... [wikipedia.org]–Ribbentrop_Pact

      Putin's desire to roll NATO back to pre-Soviet collapse lines has a very familiar look doesn't it?
      • by jlar ( 584848 )

        Its funny how you conflate defense missiles with offense missiles. In you own words you characterize the USA equipment as "anti-Russian missile defence systems". How dare the USA help friends to obstruct the Russian's "right" to launch offensive missiles at its neighbors. How dare the USA deny the Russian sphere's of influence that Stalin negotiated with Hitler before they took their agreed upon halves of Poland in 1939.

        I don't think you need to go back to the Molotov-Ribbentrop Pact for this. Great Powers have always had spheres of influence. It is a simple matter of the ability and will of those powers to project power in combination with their perceived interest in a given area. The communication of those spheres of influence to other great or major powers is helpful in avoiding war.

        The US has unprecedented ability to project power and the entire western hemisphere (Monroe Doctrine), most of Europe (through NATO), Ocean

        • by drnb ( 2434720 )

          On the other hand China is rapidly expanding its sphere of influence at the expense of the USA and other major powers. This may also lead to conflict. But that is a different topic.

          Not really. The USA is not threatening conflict over the "Monroe Doctrine". It is not demanding a sphere of influence by force of arms. What sphere's of influence exist are voluntary.

          • by jlar ( 584848 )

            On the other hand China is rapidly expanding its sphere of influence at the expense of the USA and other major powers. This may also lead to conflict. But that is a different topic.

            Not really. The USA is not threatening conflict over the "Monroe Doctrine". It is not demanding a sphere of influence by force of arms. What sphere's of influence exist are voluntary.

            You have a short memory. USA has intervened numerous times in Latin America to prevent foreign influence or to topple regimes that were aligned with their global competitors (Soviet Union). In recent times the US has managed to contain global adversaries far from the Western Hemisphere so these interventions have not been relevant. But if China builds a naval/missile/antimissile or whatever base in Cuba, Venezuela or Panama I don’t believe that the US will accept this.

            But I do of course agree that the

            • by drnb ( 2434720 )

              On the other hand China is rapidly expanding its sphere of influence at the expense of the USA and other major powers. This may also lead to conflict. But that is a different topic.

              Not really. The USA is not threatening conflict over the "Monroe Doctrine". It is not demanding a sphere of influence by force of arms. What sphere's of influence exist are voluntary.

              You have a short memory. USA has intervened numerous times in Latin America to prevent foreign influence ...

              True, that happened in the past. Yet the fact remains we have been making no such claims/threats in recent history as China developed spheres of influence in the Americas.

              But if China builds a naval/missile/antimissile or whatever base in Cuba, Venezuela or Panama I don’t believe that the US will accept this.

              I am sure we will send a sternly worded letter, and then only in regard to the offensive missiles. Even during the Cuban missile crisis Kennedy was careful to refer to offensive nuclear missiles. There was never any threat of blockade or other military action over defensive missile systems the Russians installed in Cuba. Again, a conflatio

      • As opposed to NATO's eastward expansion after the fall of the Soviet Union, in opposition to an agreement the U.S. had with Gorbachev.
        • As opposed to NATO's eastward expansion after the fall of the Soviet Union, in opposition to an agreement the U.S. had with Gorbachev.

          Neither the US nor NATO wants Russian territory. They bailed out Russia economically after the collapse of the Soviet Union when they were incredibly vulnerable. The expansion of NATO is not due to a push by the USA, Germany or any "western" power. The expansion is due to "eastern" nations formerly under the Soviet Union's sphere of influence and/or forced into the Soviet Union that want to ensure they never again come under the domination of Russia. They are acting in defense. If Russia was not historicall

    • To give you a better idea of what propaganda really means, consider that the US placed missiles in Turkey, and Russia countered by placing missiles in Cuba. The crisis was resolved by quietly removing the missiles from Turkey and loudly from Cuba.

      What happened now was Russia did rattle sabres to get the US to the negotiating table but there are a lot of players who really like the idea of a bit of escalation, mostly in the US and UK , and hey wouldn't it be nice to start attacking the Donbass now while accu

    • Reminds us again what the U.S. is installing in the Ukraine.
  • Russia could do this and Russia could do that. All this fucking propaganda is getting old
    • Arguably there is propaganda on both sides, but this looks more like a contingency plan.

    • by slazzy ( 864185 )
      Just look at how Russia is building their country around US bases! https://qph.fs.quoracdn.net/ma... [quoracdn.net]
      • You know you're the fucking bad guy when the entire fucking world joins an Alliance aimed against you.

        It's almost like Russia's neighbors are afraid of being knocked over. I wonder where they got that idea.

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