More victims of trump policies including US citizens of chinese
Trump calls for Intel boss to resign immediately, alleging China ties
3 hours ago
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Natalie Sherman
BBC News
Bloomberg/Getty
President Donald Trump has called on the head of US chipmaker Intel to resign "immediately", accusing him of having problematic ties to China.
In a social media post, he said CEO Lip-Bu Tan was "highly conflicted", apparently referring to Mr Tan's alleged investments in companies that the US says are tied to the Chinese military. It is unusual for a president to demand the resignation of a corporate executive.
Intel, which has received billions of dollars from the government to support semiconductor manufacturing in the US, did not respond to a request for comment.
Mr Tan was appointed in March to turn around the tech giant, as it fell behind China and other competitors in chips development.
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A naturalised US citizen born in Malaysia and raised in Singapore, he is a venture capitalist well-known for his expertise in the semiconductor industry.
In an update to investors this week, he said the firm would be scaling back its investments in manufacturing, including in the US, to match demand from customers. Intel has already cut thousands of jobs this year as part of an effort to "right-size" the firm.
Shares in Intel fell more than 3% by midday after the attack from Trump, who has been critical of the firm previously and is preparing to raise tariffs on the chip industry.
"The CEO of INTEL is highly CONFLICTED and must resign, immediately. There is no other solution to this problem,"
Trump wrote.
It is not illegal for Americans to invest in Chinese firms.
But Washington has ramped up restrictions since Trump's first term, as it pushes to break business ties between the US and China when it comes to advanced technology, as both Democrats and Republicans openly worry about national security.
Trump's attack took up concerns aired by Republican Senator Tom Cotton this week in
a letter to Intel's board that said Mr Tan's "associations raise questions about Intel's ability" to be a "responsible steward of American taxpayer dollars and to comply with applicable security regulations".
Cotton pointed to Mr Tan's role as the longtime chief executive of tech firm Cadence Design Systems, which
pleaded guilty in July and agreed to pay $140m over US charges that its subsidiary in China had repeatedly done business with the country's National University of Defense Technology, violating US export controls.
Mr Tan himself was not indicted.
In a statement earlier this week, Intel defended its relatively new chief executive, saying Mr Tan and the company were "deeply committed to the national security of the US and the integrity of our role in the US defense ecosystem".
Industry expert Patrick Moorhead, founder of Moor Insights & Strategy, said he thought Trump was using the controversy over Mr Tan's ties to China to put pressure on Intel over some other issue. He pointed to potential disputes about Intel's investments in the US and reports of a possible partnership with Taiwanese firm TSMC backed by the White House.