An industry advisory committee is planning to push the Bureau of Industry and Security to release guidance on how companies should be applying the agency’s various foreign direct product rules.

The Bureau of Industry and Security this week officially extended the public comment deadline for its two China-related chip export control rules released in October (see 2312120055). The deadline, initially set for Dec. 18, was extended to Jan. 17. BIS said the extension will give industry and others more time to review the interim final rules and “benefit from the significant amount of public outreach that BIS is conducting on the rules prior to preparing and submitting their comments on the IFRs.”

Although scholars from the U.S., Japan and South Korea said the three countries largely agree on China-related semiconductor export controls, they said those conversations could grow more difficult as the U.S. continues to restrict a broader set of advanced chips and chipmaking equipment.

Chinese chip designer Brite Semiconductor is partly owned by a company on the Entity List yet still buys sensitive U.S. technology from two California software companies and receives funding from a U.S. venture capital firm backed by Wells Fargo, Reuters reported Dec. 13.

The semiconductor industry is pushing the Biden administration for more transparency surrounding its future plans for export controls on chips and chip tools, saying the uncertainty is causing more foreign customers to avoid using advanced U.S.-origin technology. The industry also warned that China has seen a sharp uptick in domestic orders for chips and chipmaking equipment following the most recent U.S. controls, potentially jeopardizing sales to the American semiconductor industry’s largest market.

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Congress should require the Biden administration to strengthen export controls against China and give it new tools to restrict a broader range of inbound and outbound investments, the House Select Committee on China said in a Dec. 12 report.

Exporters will have at least another month to digest the Bureau of Industry and Security's recently updated semiconductor export controls before the agency issues clarifications and corrections.

The U.S. and South Korea held talks on a range of critical and emerging technology issues in Seoul late last week, part of an inaugural forum meant to improve cooperation on semiconductors, artificial intelligence, biotechnology, quantum and more, the White House said.

The Commerce Department on Dec. 11 announced its first federal grant under the Chips Act, saying it will award defense contractor BAE Systems about $35 million to improve its chip production facility in Nashua, New Hampshire. The funding was announced about three months after the agency finalized its guardrails for the grants (see 2309220035), which are designed to improve the state and capacity of American semiconductor manufacturing and innovation.