The US is preparing for a tsunami of legacy ICs from China.

Two Congressmen have written to US Secretary for Commerce, Gina Raimondo, expressing concern that China is “on track to flood the United States and global markets with foundational semiconductors.”

By ‘foundational’ they mean chips made on older nodes than 28nm.

In the 50nm to 180 nm range, China currently controls around 30% of global capacity and within a decade could control around 46%, says a Rhodium Group report.

The Congressmen are proposing import duties on ICs rather than duties on finished goods containing ICs.

The Commerce Department is initiating a survey this month to find out how US companies source legacy ICs.