As the trade war continues between China and the US, the costs are being felt from fruit to furniture. Tech firms are also taking a hit, not just because many of their parts come from China, but also their workers. CGTN's Mark Niu has more from California.

At universities across the United States, tens of thousands of Chinese students come to study engineering and technology with hopes of someday finding a job here.

WEN XUFENG CHINESE STUDENT "Yes, I want to work here. It's less pressure than China and the salary is very high. I don't know if I can."

PETER LEROE-MUNOZ VP, SILICON VALLEY LEADERSHIP GROUP "When we look at the number of students who are able to find those positions working in companies who are able to receive the work permits they need, we're seeing a decrease in that. We're also seeing an increase in the number of rejections."

One of the hardest hit sectors is semi-conductors. According to the Silicon Valley Leadership Group, China imports nearly 300 billion worth of computer chips from U.S. companies annually.  

MARK NIU MOUNTAIN VIEW, CALIFORNIA "Under US rules, foreign nationals including Chinese, must get special licenses to work on sensitive technology like semi-conductors. From 2013-2017, Chinese nationals accounted for more than 60-percent of the approved licenses. But Leroe-Munoz says whereas the approval process used to take a couple of weeks, it's now averaging around six to eight months."

PETER LEROE-MUNOZ VP, SILICON VALLEY LEADERSHIP GROUP "It's making it more difficult for companies to get the work they need right away. It's also making the United States and Silicon Valley, in particular, less attractive as a destination for some of the smartest most skilled workers from around the world."

LINLEY GWENNAP PRINCIPAL ANALYST, THE LINLEY GROUP "A lot of the ones that are pending right now, the engineer has gotten a visa working for a company, then the company tries to assign them to a particular project and they can't get onto it because the license is being held up."

Gwennap says while companies lose out on skilled workers, the region could also lose out on job creation from potential Chinese founders.

LINLEY GWENNAP PRINCIPAL ANALYST, THE LINLEY GROUP "Some of them end up starting companies and have a big impact on Silicon Valley. Weili Dai who was born in Shanghai, one of the co-founders of Marvell, which is a large chip company with over 5,000 employees. Ken Xie, who has founded several companies including Fortinet which is one of the largest cybersecurity companies in Silicon Valley. Again like 5,000 employees."

Leroe-Munoz says the Trump administration also views access to sensitive technologies as a threat.

PETER LEROE-MUNOZ VP, SILICON VALLEY LEADERSHIP GROUP "They view the situation as if we don't assert technological dominance, we risking falling behind China and the fear on the part of the administration is that threat also is not only a technology threat, but possibly also a national security threat when we look at issues around artificial intelligence and cyber security."

Leroe-Munoz's Silicon Valley Leadership Group has more than 350 members, including top chip makers such as Intel and Samsung Semiconductor.

He says while members understand the security concerns, they also want the Trump administration to realize the risks and costs of losing out on long-term innovation. Mark Niu, CGTN, Mountain View, California.