BIS Rescinds Is-Informed Letter Restrictions for Chip Design, Energy Companies
The Bureau of Industry and Security last week rescinded China-related export restrictions on multiple electronic design automation companies and a gas and oil pipeline company, a move that came less than a month after Washington and Beijing reached an agreement to rein in their respective export curbs.
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BIS on July 2 informed chip design companies Synopsys, Cadence and Siemens, along with pipeline company Enterprise Products Partners, that they no longer have to comply with new license requirements that BIS had outlined in is-informed letters in May (see 2505300006). BIS also rescinded certain requirements for electronic design automation company Siemens, Reuters reported. Siemens didn’t respond to our request for comment.
Cadence said it was told by BIS that the “license requirements set forth” in a May 23 letter sent by the agency “were rescinded effective immediately.” The company is “in the process of restoring access to EDA Software and Technology for its affected customers in accordance with these updated U.S. export regulations," Cadence said in its latest SEC filing.
Synopsys described receiving a similar letter from BIS. The agency informed the company that “the export restrictions related to China, pursuant to a letter received on May 29, 2025, have now been rescinded, effective immediately,” it said in an SEC filing. “Synopsys is working to restore access to the recently restricted products in China. Synopsys is continuing to assess the impact of export restrictions related to China on its business, operating results and financials.”
A spokesperson for Siemens said the company was recently notified by BIS that the new restrictions over certain electronic design automation software and technology to customers in China "are no longer in place." Siemens has "restored full access to software and technology classified under Export Control Classification Numbers (ECCNs) 3D991 and 3E991, subject to applicable export control laws and regulations, and we have resumed sales and support to Chinese customers," the spokesperson said in a July 3 email. "We appreciate the patience of our customers as we have navigated the rapidly changing global trade landscape and understand the inconvenience this may have caused."
Enterprise Products, which had received a BIS is-informed letter telling the company that it needed a license to ship certain items if a party to the transaction is in China or is a Chinese military end user, also said BIS has “rescinded” those restrictions. The company attached a copy of the BIS letter to its latest SEC filing.
Although BIS informed Enterprise Products that it was reversing the restrictions, it also said the move does “not relieve you of your obligation to comply with other provisions of the [Export Administration Regulations], including list-based and end-use/end-user-based license requirements or embargoes and other special controls set forth in parts 738, 742, 744, 746, and 774 of the EAR. BIS notes that, consistent with § 762.1 of the EAR, you are required to retain all applicable supporting documents and records of shipments, including those made while the license requirements above were in effect, in accordance with the recordkeeping provisions in part 762 of the EAR.”
BIS sent the letters after the U.S. and China reached a deal for Beijing to rein in export curbs on critical minerals and for the U.S. to remove certain export controls (see 2506110044). BIS also has put in place new export restrictions over certain aircraft equipment destined to China. It’s unclear whether those restrictions remain in place.
A BIS spokesperson didn’t respond to a request for comment.