Chinese officials recently have slowed merger reviews of a “number” of proposed acquisitions by U.S. companies, asking the firms to first make available in China products that may be subject to U.S. export controls, The Wall Street Journal reported. China has so far slow-walked merger reviews of Intel’s $5.2 billion purchase of Israel-based Tower Semiconductor and chipmaker MaxLinear’s $3.8 billion purchase of Taiwan-based Silicon Motion Technology, the report said.

China has asked the World Trade Organization to review semiconductor export controls recently announced by Japan, saying the “harmful” measures violate WTO rules. Beijing also lodged a broader complaint against the reported chip control deal agreed to by the U.S., the Netherlands and Japan, saying it should be made public and scrutinized by WTO members.

The U.S. should be preparing a strategy to make sure it leads in the next generation of advanced semiconductor technologies, said Romesh Wadhwani, founder of investment firm Symphony Technology Group. Wadhwani also said the funding included in the Chips Act is a good start, but likely won’t be enough to remain ahead of China and shield U.S. supply chains from geopolitical risks.

Japan last week said it plans to impose new export controls on certain semiconductor manufacturing equipment, a move that could align its restrictions with some of the sweeping China controls released by the U.S. in October. The Japanese restrictions will apply to 23 types of chip items and covering six categories of equipment used in chip manufacturing, including cleaning, deposition, lithography and etching, Reuters reported March 31.

The European Commission will present ideas this year on a potential outbound investment screening regime, which could look to prevent European investments in sensitive Chinese technology sectors, Commission President Ursula von der Leyen said last week. She also said the EU will consider new trade restrictions on dual-use goods, including those that may be used for human rights abuses.

Japan recently loosened export restrictions on shipments of hydrogen fluoride, fluorinated polymide and resists to South Korea following the end of a long-running trade dispute between the two countries. Japan's Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry said it added the three items, which are high-tech materials used in smartphone displays and chips, to the scope of its "Special General Bulk Export License system," effectively lifting the restrictions. The announcement, which took effect March 23, comes after South Korea withdrew its dispute complaint at the World Trade Organization (see 2303240044 and 2303170015).

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The Commerce Department will hold a public webinar on the agency’s proposed “guardrails” for recipients of Chips Act funding, which could restrict how recipients use the funding in certain countries and align the guardrails with export restrictions (see 2303210026 and 2303220010). The March 30 webinar will be hosted by the National Institute of Standards and Technology’s Chips Program Office, which will “review the national security measures included in the Chips and Science Act and the additional details and definitions outlined in the Notice of Proposed Rulemaking.” Participants must register. The presentation recording and transcript will be posted on the Chips for America website after the event.

The Commerce Department published a proposed rule in the Federal Register that seeks public comments on potential “guardrails” for recipients of Chips Act funding. Comments on the rule, which would also align those funding restrictions with certain export controls, are due May 22. Commerce released the rule earlier this week (see 2303210026).

The EU is “assessing” whether to create an outbound investment screening regime, which could help it address “gaps” in its dual-use export controls, Valdis Dombrovskis, the bloc’s top trade official, told the European Parliament this week. “We're currently at the exploratory stage,” he said.