The U.S. on Dec. 13 confirmed it has received a request from China for consultations at the World Trade Organization over U.S. semiconductor export controls (see 2212120061) and said it opposes China’s move. “As we have already communicated to the [People’s Republic of China], these targeted actions relate to national security, and the WTO is not the appropriate forum to discuss issues related to national security,” Adam Hodge, spokesperson for the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative, said in an emailed statement.
Export Compliance Daily is providing readers with the top stories from last week in case you missed them. You can find any article by searching for the title or by clicking on the hyperlinked reference number.
The Bureau of Industry and Security issued a 180-day temporary denial order this week against three people and two companies for illegally sending controlled exports to Russia as part of a Moscow-led sanctions evasion scheme. Along with the denial order, DOJ indicted the three people, along with others, on charges related to the illegal exports, including money laundering, wire fraud, bank fraud and conspiring to defraud the U.S.
China took to the World Trade Organization Dec. 12 to challenge U.S. export control measures on semiconductor chips and other products, an official at China's Ministry of Commerce said, according to an unofficial translation. China referred the export restrictions to the trade body's dispute settlement mechanism, claiming the U.S. has been "generalizing the concept of national security."
Japan and the Netherlands have “agreed in principle” to join the U.S. in imposing certain new semiconductor export controls on China (see 2212080012), Bloomberg reported Dec. 12. The agreement, which will likely be announced in the “coming weeks,” will see Japan and the Netherlands “adopt at least some” of the restrictions announced by the Bureau of Industry and Security in October (see 2210070049), the report said. The two countries are planning to restrict exports of “machinery capable of fabricating 14-nanometer or more advanced chips to China,” the report said. A BIS spokesperson pointed to Undersecretary Alan Estevez's comments last week, when he said he remains confident U.S. allies will impose similar export restrictions against China (see 2212060059).
The U.S. and the EU didn’t appear to make much progress on export controls, investment screening and other pivotal areas of cooperation at the latest Trade and Technology Council meeting this month, experts with the Center for Strategic and International Studies said during a Dec. 12 event. The two sides still look to be closely aligned on Russia controls and sanctions, the speakers said, but until the TTC announces more concrete measures, it remains unclear how similarly they view restrictions on China.
The U.S. should prepare a range of economic and financial restrictions against China to deter it from invading Taiwan, including new sanctions against Chinese banks and outbound investment restrictions on Chinese technology sectors, said Sen. Dan Sullivan, R-Alaska. Sullivan said the sanctions should “go far beyond what has been imposed on Russia” and make clear to Beijing that “no corner of its economy will be left untouched by sanctions.”
A deal between the U.S. and the Netherlands on new export controls for chipmaking equipment destined for China could come as soon as next month, Bloomberg reported Dec. 7. The U.S. has been working to convince the Dutch to impose similar semiconductor export controls and restrict the ability of Netherlands-based ASML to provide certain advanced equipment to China (see 2211210035). The report said it remains unclear what the potential U.S.-Dutch agreement would mean for ASML’s China sales. Bureau of Industry and Security Undersecretary Alan Estevez said Dec. 7 that he remains confident the U.S. will convince allies to impose harsher restrictions against China, and said he respects the Netherlands’ desire to shape its own export control policies (see 2212060059).
Export Compliance Daily is providing readers with the top stories from last week in case you missed them. You can find any article by searching for the title or by clicking on the hyperlinked reference number.
China has been more receptive to U.S. end-use checks on Chinese entities as a result of a Commerce Department policy change from October, Bureau of Industry and Security Undersecretary Alan Estevez said this week. Estevez also said he doesn’t expect any significant revisions to BIS’s most recent chip restrictions on China, and warned that a Chinese invasion of Taiwan would spark new, strict U.S. export controls that would cause U.S. companies to lose “billions” of dollars in Chinese business.