The US Customs and Border Protection (CBP) has been instructed to hold certain shipments of Bitmain’s Antminer ASIC miners at various ports across the country. This directive, allegedly issued by the Federal Communications Commission (FCC), has caused delays of up to two months for some shipments. Interestingly, other Chinese producers of ASIC mining equipment, such as MicroBT and Canaan, have not been affected by this directive. The affected imports include Bitmain’s latest Antminer S21 and T21 models, and the CBP has acknowledged the detention of these goods but has not provided any explanation or timeline for releasing them. This has caused frustration for businesses, with some shipments being held for months and daily holding fees exceeding $200,000. The CBP and FCC have declined to respond to requests for clarification, prompting the affected company to engage a legal team to seek answers. One possible explanation for the import halts is the presence of Sophgo chips in Antminer control boards. Sophgo has come under scrutiny for allegedly breaching US sanctions by supplying chips to Huawei, a company subject to trade restrictions since 2019. Bitmain uses the Sophgo CV1835 chip in certain Antminer models, and while no definitive link has been established between the import halts and this controversy, sources have verified this information.
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