The Netherlands this week announced plans to impose new export controls on advanced semiconductor production equipment, a move the U.S. hopes will align it more closely with American restrictions on exports to China. The new Dutch controls (see 2302160011) will target specific chip technologies “in which the Netherlands has a unique and leading position,” Trade Minister Liesje Schreinemacher said in a letter to the country’s parliament, adding that any additional restrictions should be imposed multilaterally.
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The Biden administration is “close” to issuing new rules to restrict outbound investments in certain technologies that could help China advance its chip capabilities, The Associated Press reported March 4. The rules will limit American investment in certain “advanced technologies that have national security applications,” the report said, including “next-generation military capabilities.” U.S. officials have confirmed they are working on an outbound investment review mechanism (see 2302140083 and 2301120035), and The Wall Street Journal reported March 3 that the White House is expected to seek additional funding for the new tool in its upcoming budget request, expected to be released this week.
Russia is using the United Arab Emirates as a major transhipment hub to import controlled goods, a Treasury Department official said last week. UAE companies exported more than $18 million worth of goods to sanctioned Russian entities between July and November, said Elizabeth Rosenberg, assistant secretary for terrorist financing and financial crimes. They also exported more than $5 million worth of U.S.-origin and export controlled goods to Russia June to November. Those items included “semiconductor devices” used by Russia to fight its war in Ukraine.
Western democracies should pursue new restrictions on technology researchers or risk further falling behind China in global technological competition, the Australian Strategic Policy Institute said in a report that it released this week. The institute warned that China’s dominant research position could allow that country to “gain a stranglehold on the global supply of certain critical technologies.”
The Bureau of Industry and Security this week added 37 entities to the Entity List for a range of activities the agency said threaten U.S. national security, including for supporting Russia’s war effort, sending controlled items to China’s military and aiding companies already listed on the Entity List. The entities -- located in Belarus, Myanmar, China, Pakistan, Russia and Taiwan -- will be subject to a license requirement for all items subject to the Export Administration Regulations with varying license application review policies. BIS also modified 10 existing Chinese entries on the Entity List. The additions and changes took effect March 2.
The Biden administration is expected to further scale back its upcoming outbound investment screening executive order to focus on “increasing transparency” for certain outbound investments in China instead of potentially blocking investments in several sectors, Politico reported Feb. 28. The report said the EO may still block certain investments in China’s advanced semiconductor industry, but it will “likely not block money from flowing to other parts of China’s high-tech economy,” including the artificial intelligence, quantum computing and biotechnology industries.
Officials from South Korea, Japan and the Biden administration met in Hawaii, the White House said Feb. 28, and talked about how to increase supply chain resilience "in semiconductors, batteries, and critical minerals." The officials also talked about how to coordinate on measures to protect sensitive technologies, the readout 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 for the title or by clicking on the hyperlinked reference number.
Myron Brilliant, who leads the international division at the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, asked Ambassador Nicholas Burns where the economic relationship with China is heading -- it's a trillion dollars worth of business, Brilliant noted, even with American businesses' concerns about discriminatory regulations and the effects of state-owned enterprises.