U.S. lifts chip software curbs on China in sign of trade truce

The U.S. government has rescinded its export restrictions on chip-design software to China, three of the largest players in the space announced on Thursday. 

In separate statements, semiconductor software designers Siemens AG, Synopsys, and Cadence all said they received letters from the U.S. Department of Commerce informing them that the controls had been lifted.

While Siemens is based in Germany, its chip design software subsidiary, Siemens EDA, is based in Oregon, U.S.

As a result of export control reversal, Siemens said it had "restored full access" to the recently restricted software and technology and had resumed sales and support to Chinese customers. ​

Synopsys and Cadence both said that they were working on doing the same. The U.S. Commerce Department did not immediately respond to a request for comment from CNBC.

The U.S. had informed the chip design software companies on May 23 that they were required to obtain licenses before exporting software and other technology for semiconductors to China. It followed an earlier tightening of export controls on other semiconductor products, which restricted the sales of advanced AI processors from Nvidia and AMD to China.

Shares of Synopsys and Cadence each climbed about 3% Thursday.

The three firms are considered part of the U.S.-dominated electronic design automation (EDA) market, which encompasses software, hardware, and essential services for designing chips and semiconductor devices.

Synopsys CEO Sassine Ghazi said in a conference call with analysts in May that the company saw a slowdown in China during its fiscal second quarter, which ended on April 30. Customers in China made up around 10% of Synopsys' $1.6 billion in quarterly revenue.

China has also introduced policies to prop up its domestic chip-design software makers and develop independent chip design know-how, Synopsys said.

According to TrendForce, Synopsys, Cadence, and Siemens EDA held a global market share of 31%, 30%, and 13%, respectively, in 2024.

The news comes after China signaled last week that they are making progress on a trade truce with the U.S. and confirmed conditional agreements to resume some exchanges of rare earths and advanced technology.