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 the title or by clicking on the hyperlinked reference number.
Japan recently rejected South Korea’s request to allow it back on Japan’s white list of trusted trading partners, according to an unofficial translation of an Aug. 21 report from South Korean daily newspaper Munhwa Ilbo. The report, citing an article recently published by Japan’s Sankei Shimbun, said Japan rejected the South Korea request at a foreign ministers meeting held in Cambodia earlier this month.
China’s announcement this summer that it made progress in its chip technology doesn't necessarily mean there was a failure in U.S. export control policy, said Bill Reinsch, a senior export administration official during the Bill Clinton administration. Reinsch said it’s unclear if China’s new chip even exists and where Beijing received the equipment to produce it.
As the Biden administration enacts legislation to bolster the green energy and semiconductor industries, the U.S. likely will see an influx of foreign investment in both sectors, which could lead to more filings with the Committee on Foreign Investment in the U.S., said Michael Considine, a Department of Energy official, speaking during a Vinson & Elkins webinar last week. He also expects some emerging clean-energy technologies to have dual-use capabilities, which also could trigger more CFIUS reviews.
The U.S.’s recently announced export controls on four technologies that can be used to produce advanced semiconductors and gas turbine engines (see 2208120038) are a “violation” of international trade rules, a spokesperson for China’s Ministry of Commerce said this week. The controls -- which will impose license restrictions on two substrates of ultra-wide bandgap semiconductors, certain Electronic Computer Aided Design software and certain pressure gain combustion technology -- “will inevitably hinder international scientific and technological exchanges” and “threaten the security and stability of global industrial and supply chains,” the spokesperson said, according to an unofficial translation of an Aug. 18 news conference transcript. “The United States continues to generalize the concept of national security and abuses export control measures,” the spokesperson said.
The Bureau of Industry and Security this week issued a new set of frequently asked questions covering the Entity List, Russia-related export controls and Russia-related sanctions evasion.
The Bureau of Industry and Security last week announced new export controls on four technologies that can be used to produce advanced semiconductors and gas turbine engines. The controls, which were agreed to by members of the multilateral Wassenaar Arrangement at last year’s plenary, will apply to two substrates of ultra-wide bandgap semiconductors, certain Electronic Computer Aided Design (ECAD) software and certain pressure gain combustion (PGC) technology.
Even though U.S. export controls haven’t cut into SMIC’s profit margins, they have hurt the Chinese semiconductor company’s ability to advance its chip-producing technology, said Min-Hua Chiang, a Heritage Foundation research fellow. Because restrictions imposed by the Bureau of Industry and Security limit SMIC’s ability to import equipment for making chips below 10 nanometers, the company is “stuck with using older technology,” she wrote in an August post. “Without access to foreign equipment,” the post said, “it will be very difficult for China to produce the most advanced chips any time soon, putting a severe crimp in Beijing’s plans for its military and security apparatus.”
President Joe Biden will sign the Chips and Science Act into law Aug. 9 and speak in the Rose Garden, the White House said Aug. 3. “This bill will lower the cost of everyday goods, strengthen American manufacturing and innovation, create good-paying jobs, and bolster our economic and national security,” the White House said.
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 the title or by clicking on the hyperlinked reference number.