The leaders of the House Select Committee on China asked five large semiconductor manufacturing equipment (SME) firms Nov. 7 to provide data about their China sales, saying the information would help lawmakers better understand the “flow of SME” to the Asian country and its contribution to China’s “rapid buildout of its semiconductor manufacturing industrial base.”
U.S. mobile phone parts producer Lumentum is under investigation by the Bureau of Industry and Security and DOJ for potentially violating U.S. export controls against Huawei, according to corporate filings.
U.S.-based business owner Ilya Kahn pleaded guilty Nov. 7 to conspiracy to violate the Export Control Reform Act after he illegally shipped sensitive technology, including semiconductors, from the U.S. to Russia (see 2401180047), DOJ said.
The Treasury Department is scheduled to publish a final rule in the Federal Register Nov. 15 outlining new prohibitions and notification requirements for U.S. outbound investments in China’s semiconductor, artificial intelligence and quantum sectors. The agency released the rule in prepublication form in October (see 2410280043). It takes effect Jan. 2.
Former President Donald Trump is projected to win reelection and Republicans took back control of the Senate, setting up a possible repeat of the first Trump-led government that frequently used export controls to counter China and didn’t hesitate to levy threats at traditional U.S. trading partners.
House Foreign Affairs Committee Chairman Michael McCaul, R-Texas, urged the Commerce Department Nov. 5 to investigate whether China’s Semiconductor Manufacturing International Corporation (SMIC) violated U.S. export controls.
The Bureau of Industry and Security is being asked to do more to restrict the export of dual-use items but isn’t getting a commensurate increase in funding and personnel, a technology policy expert said last week.
The Bureau of Industry and Security fined multinational chip maker GlobalFoundries $500,000 after it illegally exported semiconductor wafers to a Entity Listed firm with ties to Semiconductor Manufacturing International Corp. (SMIC), China’s flagship chip manufacturing company.
U.S. export control efforts -- along with enforcement risks for companies -- will continue to rise no matter who wins the upcoming presidential election, said Matthew Axelrod, the lead export enforcement official at the Bureau of Industry and Security.
House Foreign Affairs Committee Chairman Michael McCaul, R-Texas, is “glad” the Biden administration is moving forward with a final rule that will restrict U.S. outbound investment in China’s AI, quantum and semiconductor sectors, a spokesperson for the committee’s majority said Oct. 30.