Huawei’s 7 nanometer chip smartphone breakthrough earlier this year (see 2309120005, 2309150020 and 2309190052) signals that although China hasn’t yet reached the “global state of the art for semiconductor manufacturing,” the “gap between the peak technological level of China and that of the rest of the world has shrunk” despite U.S. export controls, said Gregory Allen of the Center for Strategic and International Studies.

If the Treasury Department doesn't clarify the due-diligence steps that will be required of dealmakers under the agency’s upcoming outbound investment prohibitions, the Biden administration risks chilling a broad range of U.S ventures in China and incentivizing foreign companies to seek funds elsewhere, law firms and industry associations said in comments to the agency.

The Bureau of Industry and Security added 49 entities, mostly from China, to the Entity List for shipping microelectronics to Russian consignees connected to the country’s defense sector. The entities are semiconductor companies, technology businesses, logistics companies and others, and also include companies based in Estonia, Finland, Germany, India, Turkey, the United Arab Emirates and the U.K.

A large group of House members, including some of the most powerful Republicans in the chamber, are asking the U.S. trade representative to tell the EU to designate the U.S. as a "low-risk" country under its new deforestation-free regulation. Exporters of wood products must be in compliance with the law beginning Jan. 1, 2025.

The Bureau of Industry and Security sent an interim final rule for interagency review this week that could update U.S. export controls on certain semiconductor manufacturing items and make modifications to the Entity List. The rule was sent to the Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs Oct. 4. A BIS spokesperson declined to comment about what the rule will entail.

U.S. allies in Europe and Asia would support new efforts to coordinate on export controls for advanced technologies, including semiconductors, panelists said during an event this week hosted by the Center for Strategic and International Studies. But they also said those same countries don’t believe the world needs a new dual-use multilateral export control regime to replace the Wassenaar Arrangement, even though Russia remains a member and can block proposals.

LONDON -- A looming Bureau of Industry and Security rule that would expand the agency’s restrictions on U.S. persons' activities is “going to be a compliance challenge that I don't think we're ready for,” said Robert Monjay, a former BIS analyst and export control executive with Intel.

The European Commission this week issued a list of 10 critical technology areas that it plans to focus on as part of its economic security strategy, which outlined in June plans to improve export controls and study whether it needs better investment screening guardrails (see 2306200052). Of the 10 categories, the commission singled out four technology areas -- advanced semiconductor technologies, artificial intelligence technologies, quantum technologies and biotechnologies -- that are “highly likely to present the most sensitive and immediate risks related to technology security and technology leakage.”

LONDON -- The Bureau of Industry and Security is increasingly sending out is-informed letters to warn companies that some of their currently unrestricted products need an export license before they can be shipped, said Nancy Fischer, a Pillsbury trade lawyer. Some companies receiving the letters view them as unfair, Fischer said, particularly because BIS doesn’t always send similar letters to their competitors.

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