BIS Considering Tighter Controls on Certain China-Bound SME, Reports Say
The U.S. is preparing several new restrictions on exports of semiconductor manufacturing equipment to China to further impede Beijing’s semiconductor capabilities, according to multiple reports.
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One move would ban exports of most SME capable of making chips more advanced than 14 nanometers, an increase from the previous restriction that applied to equipment producing chips of 10 nanometers or better, Bloomberg reported July 29. The move was previewed by Lam Research during a conference call last week, the report said, with CEO Tim Archer saying the company was “recently notified that there was to be a broadening of the restrictions of technology shipments” to China for certain fabs. He said the company is “prepared to fully comply.”
Another move could ban exports of chipmaking tools to China used to make NAND chips with more than 128 layers, Reuters reported Aug. 1. Although this change is in the “early stages” and proposed regulations haven’t yet been drafted, it could target a range of memory chipmakers in China, the report said, including Yangtze Memory Technologies. It could also hurt other memory chipmakers with factories in China, such as Samsung and SK Hynix.
Bureau of Industry and Security Undersecretary Alan Estevez said he is conducting a review of the types of semiconductors and chipmaking equipment that can be exported to China to determine whether BIS needs to tighten those restrictions (see 2207150023). An agency spokesperson said the administration is focused on "impairing" China's "efforts to manufacture advanced semiconductors to address significant national security risks to the" U.S.
"As Undersecretary Estevez stated in his recent Congressional testimony, BIS is updating its approach to China and seeking to maximize the effectiveness of our export controls," the spokesperson said Aug. 1. "This includes ongoing and future work to tighten existing policies relating to the PRC’s production of advanced semiconductors, utilize a variety of legal, regulatory, and when appropriate, enforcement tools in BIS’s toolbox, and grow and strengthen our cooperation with allies and partners."