US imposes sanctions on Malaysian semiconductor companies

KUALA LUMPUR: A Malaysian semiconductor manufacturing company was sanctioned by the United States (US) last month for allegedly sending important electronic parts and components to Russia.

Berita Harian, Al Jazeera reported that Kuala Lumpur-based Jatronics Sdn Bhd is among 300 entities on the US sanctions list because of their ties to Russian military suppliers.

The report, which cited a US State Department spokesman, said some of the materials sent by the company to Russia were Tier 1 items on the US Commerce Department’s High Priority List.

Level 1 items, the report said, refer to items “of greatest concern because of their critical role in the production of Russia’s advanced precision guided weapons systems, Russia’s lack of domestic production, and limited global manufacturers.”

“Jatronics supplies these components to a Russian-based company that supplies the Russian military industrial complex,” said the spokesperson as quoted in the report.

The report also states that US officials have not confirmed if components produced by Jatronics are used in Russian military equipment.

According to the Center for Advanced Defense Studies (C4ADS), a think tank based in Washington, Jatronics has made more than 50 deliveries to companies in Russia worth more than US$3 million between April 2022 and September last year.

The report states that the materials in question include microchips, semiconductors, and silicon wafers, which are the raw materials for making semiconductors, and silicon wafers, which are the raw materials for making semiconductors.

Jatronics, according to C4ADS data, made deliveries to eight different companies in Russia, including OOO Planar, which was subject to sanctions by the US in March 2022.

Al Jazeera, in the report, said the news organization had contacted Jatronics for comment, but the company declined to respond.

The US, in December last year, imposed sanctions on four companies based in Malaysia for allegedly providing components for Iran’s weapons program specifically to assist in the production of drones.

Prime Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim, the report said, recently positioned Malaysia as a neutral hub for the semiconductor supply chain amid the US-China technology war, with the aim of attracting US$100 billion worth of new investment.