The Trump administration has recently imposed new export controls on chip design software in an effort to limit China’s ability to develop advanced AI chips. Siemens EDA, Cadence Design Systems, and Synopsys have all confirmed receiving notices from the U.S. Commerce Department regarding these new controls on electronic automation design (EDA) software to China.

EDA tools are mainly used to assist in semiconductor manufacturing and testing design and validation, as well as for monitoring performance and quality. They are utilized by chip foundries, chipmakers, networking hardware companies, the automotive industry, and more. Siemens EDA, a division of German tech giant Siemens, stated that it has received notification from the Commerce Department’s Bureau of Industry and Security (BIS) about new export controls on EDA software to China and Chinese military end users. U.S.-based Synopsys, another EDA software maker, also received a similar letter from the BIS and suspended its forecast for the third quarter and full-year 2025. Cadence was also informed by the BIS that a license is now required for the export, re-export, or in-country transfer of electronic design automation software to Chinese customers.

The new export regulations are part of the broader effort by the U.S. to limit Chinese companies in the race for AI supremacy. However, these controls are also negatively impacting the U.S. chip industry, which has had a significant market share in China. Nvidia, for example, has suffered considerable losses due to limitations on sales of its H20 and Hopper AI chips to Chinese customers. The company, along with rival AMD, is reportedly exploring selling lower-powered versions of its AI chips to Chinese customers.

The Financial Times was the first to report this news. The U.S. Commerce Department did not immediately respond to a request for comment outside regular business hours.