The White House this week issued a memorandum on advancing U.S. leadership in artificial intelligence, directing federal agencies to take “concrete and impactful steps” to make sure the U.S. remains at the forefront of AI development and that the technology helps instead of harms national security. The memo calls on the Commerce Department, the State Department, the Office of Science and Technology Policy and other agencies to “improve the security and diversity of chip supply chains,” according to a fact sheet, and to protect advanced AI technologies from foreign theft.

While the Biden and Trump administrations both frequently imposed financial sanctions and export controls on China, the Biden administration has made greater use of two key tools: the Treasury Department’s Specially Designated Nationals and Blocked Persons List and the Commerce Department’s Entity List. That's according to a new report by the Center for a New American Security (CNAS).

The Commerce Department declined to say whether it’s investigating Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company for a possible breach of export controls against Huawei but is aware of public reporting about the issue, an agency spokesperson said Oct. 24.

Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company recently spoke with Commerce Department about a possible export control issue involving one of its advanced chips, a company spokepserson said. TSMC "proactively communicated with the US Commerce Department regarding the matter," the person said Oct. 23. "We are not aware of TSMC being the subject of any investigation at this time."

The Biden administration believes it has struck the right balance in managing technology trade with competitors such as China, White House National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan said Oct. 23.

With the United States and the EU both preparing to increase their scrutiny of outbound investment, the two parties should closely coordinate their efforts to achieve the best possible outcome, a Germany-based researcher said Oct. 22.

New export controls over U.S. persons’ support for certain foreign military, intelligence and security services activities would place too much strain on both the government and industry compliance departments, disadvantage American exporters compared with their foreign competitors, and may provide no clear benefit to U.S. national security, companies and trade groups told the Bureau of Industry and Security.

The leaders of the House Select Committee on China urged the Commerce Department Oct. 16 to restrict exports of U.S.-made semiconductor manufacturing equipment (SME) to Huawei's “clandestine network” of companies.

The Bureau of Industry and Security recently updated a table on its website that lists which countries are eligible for License Exception Implemented Export Controls, an exception unveiled Sept. 5 that allows exporters to ship certain quantum computing items, chip machines and other advanced technologies without a license (see 2409050028). In a final rule, BIS said it updated the table on Sept. 17 by adding Denmark, Finland and Japan “to appropriate items in the table.” It also revised the table’s URL to be “shorter and simpler” and made other minor changes. The final rule is effective Oct. 16.

The U.S. will probably increase its use of sanctions and export controls no matter who wins the upcoming presidential election, although a Donald Trump-led administration would be more likely to pursue drastic measures that could accelerate U.S.-China decoupling, said Martin Chorzempa, a senior fellow with the Peterson Institute for International Economics. Those measures include expanding the use of the Bureau of Industry and Security’s foreign direct product rule or placing blocking sanctions on major Chinese companies such as Huawei.