The U.S. should impose new export controls on the subsystems of semiconductor manufacturing equipment and double down on enforcement for exports of advanced AI chips, including by potentially mandating that chip exporters use location-tracking features, the White House said in its new AI action plan. While the plan calls for tighter controls against China and other “strategic adversaries,” it also said the U.S. should strike deals with other countries to export American AI systems around the world.
The new U.S. outbound investment regulations appear so far to be blunting American investments in sensitive Chinese technology sectors, even for investments that only require a notification to the Treasury Department, law firm Sidley Austin said in a client alert this month.
The U.K. saw an uptick in voluntary disclosures and penalties for export violations last year along with a rise in the percentage of first-time exporters that weren’t fully compliant with export control regulations, it said in its strategic export controls annual report released this month. The country also said it’s hoping to improve its export licensing process to reduce wait times.
Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent suggested the White House may be in favor of a bill that would authorize new sanctions and tariffs against Russia’s supporters, and he urged the EU to put in place similar measures.
More than six months into President Donald Trump’s second term, the new administration’s plan for export controls on both semiconductors and chip manufacturing equipment remains unclear, industry officials and a congressional adviser said last week. They all said they hope any new controls are calibrated with allies.
A bill to mandate location-tracking mechanisms for exports of advanced chips was panned this week by technology policy experts who said the requirement would be tricky to implement and could push foreign customers to stop trusting American-made semiconductors. They also said Congress should be more focused on boosting the Bureau of Industry and Security budget to help the agency step up enforcement.
India's Directorate General of Foreign Trade this week issued new guidelines for how companies should develop and operate export control compliance programs for dual-use goods. The guidance states that companies must have export compliance programs in order to be eligible for certain export licenses, including India's "Global Authorisation for Inter-Company Transfers" scheme, which issues licenses for exports to company affiliates in certain third countries, and the country's "Open General Export License" scheme, which issues one-time export licenses for a specific time period.
The Trump administration’s decision to approve exports of advanced Nvidia chips to China could backfire on the U.S. the next time it tries to convince allies to restrict their advanced technology shipments to China, Divyansh Kaushik of Beacon Global Strategies said.
The Office of Foreign Assets Control fined a Connecticut-based online investment broker $11,832,136 to settle alleged violations of multiple U.S. sanctions programs, saying the company illegally provided services to sanctioned people and restricted countries, and it processed trades in securities of blocked Chinese military companies.
The Trump administration will allow semiconductor firm Nvidia to sell its previously restricted advanced H20 chips to China as part of an agreement Washington and Beijing reached during trade talks in recent months, Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said.