Catenaa, Saturday, January 03, 2026- President Donald Trump on Friday ordered a divestment of $2.9 million in chip assets from a US manufacturer owned by a Chinese National, citing national security concerns.
The White House said in an executive order that HieFo Corporation, incorporated in Delaware, was “controlled by a citizen of the People’s Republic of China.”
HieFo acquired the digital chips and related wafer design, fabrication, and processing businesses of New Jersey-based Emcore on April 30, 2024, which included a semiconductor manufacturing facility, the Treasury Department said in a separate statement.
The potential diversion of the supply of indium phosphide chips manufactured by Emcore’s digital chips business away from the US was also identified as a national security risk, the Treasury Department added.
The Global Times, a Chinese government mouthpiece, citing an expert, said the divestment order “reflects Washington’s anxiety over technology competition with China” as it was made without a convincing rationale.
The Treasury Department said the deal was not notified to the Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States, known as CFIUS, prompting a review by its non-notified transactions team.
“CFIUS identified a national security risk arising from the transaction relating to potential access to EMCORE’s intellectual property, proprietary know-how, and expertise,” the Treasury Department said.
HieFo was ordered to divest all acquired assets within 180 days and to immediately restrict access to Emcore’s technical information.
In a statement dated Sept. 2, 2024, HieFo said the deal would allow operations to continue at Emcore’s facility in Alhambra, California, and that it had “successfully engaged” nearly all key scientists, engineers and operational staff.
HieFo was founded by Genzao Zhang and Harry Moore through a management buyout of wafer fabrication and chip-related assets from Emcore. Both founders list their start dates at HieFo as May 2024 on LinkedIn, when the acquisition closed.
The company claimed it had inherited more than 40 years of optoelectronic innovation in indium phosphide chip manufacturing.
