BIS Eliminates Language Saying Use of Huawei Ascend Chips 'Anywhere' Violates Export Controls
The Bureau of Industry and Security quietly revised its announcement of new guidance on Huawei Ascend chips to remove language that said using those chips “anywhere in the world” is a violation of U.S. export controls.
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The guidance was publicly released by BIS on May 13 as part of the agency’s official announcement that it was rescinding the Biden-era AI diffusion rule (see 2505130018). In its original press release, BIS said it was also “issuing guidance that using Huawei Ascend chips anywhere in the world violates U.S. export controls.”
But BIS recently eliminated that language in an updated version of the press release that is now on its website, instead saying that it was “issuing guidance alerting industry to the risks of using [People’s Republic of China] advanced computing ICs, including specific Huawei Ascend chips.”
A BIS guidance document still includes a list of Huawei chips “subject to the presumption” that they’re restricted by General Prohibition 10, which places restrictions on exporters and others if they have knowledge that a violation of the EAR has occurred, is about to occur or is intended to occur. Those chips are: Huawei Ascend 910B, Huawei Ascend 910C and Huawei Ascend 910D.
A BIS spokesperson didn’t respond to a request for comment.
A Chinese Ministry of Commerce spokesperson also noted the change, saying the U.S. “has recently adjusted the relevant wording of the guidelines.” But the “discriminatory measures and market-distorting nature of the guidelines themselves have not changed,” the spokesperson said May 19, according to an unofficial translation.
“China urges the U.S. to immediately correct its wrong practices and stop discriminatory measures against China,” the spokesperson said, adding that the two countries “should jointly uphold the consensus reached at the Geneva high-level talks,” referring to discussions between senior officials in Switzerland earlier this month.
“If the US insists on its own way and continues to substantially damage China's interests,” the spokesperson said, “China will take resolute measures to safeguard its legitimate rights and interests.”