The Commerce Department should expand export restrictions on China’s top chipmaker to prevent it from accessing a broader range of semiconductor manufacturing equipment, two U.S. lawmakers said. In a March 18 letter to Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo, Sen. Marco Rubio, R-Fla., and Rep. Michael McCaul, R-Texas, asked the agency to apply the foreign direct product rule to China’s Semiconductor Manufacturing International Corporation, which would restrict the company’s ability to import certain foreign-made semiconductor equipment that is built with or that incorporates U.S. technology. The move would subject SMIC to similar restrictions imposed by the Bureau of Industry and Security on other Chinese companies on the Entity List, including Huawei (see 2012210044).
The Bureau of Industry and Security is planning to issue another set of emerging technology controls this year and hopes to propose them for multilateral control in 2022, said Matt Borman, BIS’s acting assistant secretary for export administration. Borman also said he hopes BIS can fall into a more predictable “sequence” for its emerging and foundational technology control effort and move past last year’s disruptions to multilateral regimes caused by the pandemic.
The Bureau of Industry and Security is seeking comments on an information collection related to the North Atlantic Treaty Organization’s bidding process, a notice said. The information collection pertains to the process BIS must undergo to determine whether U.S. firms are eligible to participate in NATO’s bidding process and supply certain goods. BIS previously requested comments in January but said it is extending the comment period by 30 days. Comments are due by April 19.
The Bureau of Industry and Security issued a correction for its January rule that expanded export restrictions on foreign military-intelligence agencies and certain weapons-related activities (see 2101140035), it said in a notice. BIS said it revised “an incorrect instruction that would have resulted in the inadvertent deletion of two subparagraphs” of the Export Administration Regulations. The rule would have deleted language that described licensing requirements for exports of certain rocket systems and unmanned aerial vehicles. “This was a technical error and BIS did not intend to remove the existing restrictions,” the agency said.
The Bureau of Industry and Security's January rule on foreign military intelligence agencies took effect March 16 but the agency may consider revising the scope, according to a BIS spokesperson. The rule, which was issued in January under the Trump administration, was captured as part of the Biden administration’s regulatory freeze as BIS decided whether to follow through with the new export restrictions (see 2103090038). Although the restrictions took effect, an agency spokesperson said March 16 that it will continue to review feedback to determine whether the changes are “warranted.”
Export Compliance Daily is providing readers with the top stories for March 8-12 in case you missed them. You can find any article by searching on the title or by clicking on the hyperlinked reference number.
The Bureau of Industry and Security is seeking comments on ways the agency can help boost the competitiveness and capacity of the U.S. semiconductor industry, according to a notice issued March 11. The comments, due April 5, will help inform the Commerce Department’s policy recommendations to the White House as part of a February executive order to address supply chain shortages of semiconductor chips (see 2102240068).
Export Compliance Daily is providing readers with the top stories for March 1-5 in case you missed them. You can find any article by searching on the title or by clicking on the hyperlinked reference number.
The Bureau of Industry and Security has placed its foreign military intelligence rule (see 2101140035) on hold and may not implement the rule’s changes later this month, a BIS official said. Although the rule was published in the Federal Register in January, BIS included it in the Biden administration’s regulatory freeze because it wasn’t scheduled to take effect until March 16.
The Bureau of Industry and Security denied a New Jersey man export privileges after he illegally exported electronic components to Russia, BIS said in a March 8 order. BIS denied Alexander Brazhnikov export privileges for 15 years. Brazhnikov pleaded guilty to the charges in 2015 and was sentenced to 70 months in prison in 2016 (see 1607010044).