US orders chip equipment companies to halt some shipments to China’s chipmaker Hua Hong

The US Department of Commerce last week ordered multiple chip equipment companies to halt certain tool shipments to China’s second-largest chipmaker, Hua Hong, its latest action to slow the country’s development of advanced chips, according to two people familiar with the matter.

The department sent letters to at least a handful of companies informing them of the new restrictions on ​tools and other materials destined for two Hua Hong facilities that US officials believe may make China’s most sophisticated chips, the people said.