The next Trump administration is likely to build on Biden’s outbound investment executive order and semiconductor export controls against China, researchers said last week, and could double down on sanctions against Iran and Venezuela in a return to the “maximum pressure” campaign Trump embraced during his first term.
The Trump administration would be unwise to expand its export controls to cover older-generation semiconductors destined to China, but it could pursue new restrictions over less advanced versions of the tools used to make certain chips, technology policy analysts said in interviews, particularly if it’s willing to be more aggressive than the Biden administration in talks with the Dutch and Japanese.
Sen. Marco Rubio, R-Fla., President-elect Donald Trump’s reported choice to be secretary of state, and Rep. Mike Waltz, R-Fla., Trump's selection to be national security adviser, have played active roles on export controls and sanctions while serving in Congress.
The Bureau of Industry and Security this week updated its “Don’t Let This Happen To You” guidance with new summaries and case examples of past export control investigations. The guidance now includes new case summaries of violations involving a Russia-related procurement network; a criminal case where export-controlled items were smuggled outside the U.S. and used in an assassination plot; a penalty against a semiconductor wafer manufacturing company for shipments to a party on the Entity List; violations of BIS antiboycott regulations; and more. “Exporters are encouraged to review the publication, which provides useful illustrations of the type of conduct that gets companies and universities in trouble,” BIS said.
The Commerce Department sent a letter to Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company ordering it to stop shipments of advanced semiconductors to certain Chinese customers, including 7 nanometer chips or others of “more advanced designs,” Reuters reported Nov. 9. The letter specifically orders TSMC to stop shipments, beginning Nov. 11, destined for Chinese customers of chips that power artificial intelligence accelerator and graphics processing units, the report said.
Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company is expected to begin suspending production of AI chips at advanced process nodes of 7 nanometers for its Chinese customers beginning Nov. 11, the Financial Times reported last week.
The leaders of the House Select Committee on China asked five large semiconductor manufacturing equipment (SME) firms Nov. 7 to provide data about their China sales, saying the information would help lawmakers better understand the “flow of SME” to the Asian country and its contribution to China’s “rapid buildout of its semiconductor manufacturing industrial base.”
U.S. mobile phone parts producer Lumentum is under investigation by the Bureau of Industry and Security and DOJ for potentially violating U.S. export controls against Huawei, according to corporate filings.
U.S.-based business owner Ilya Kahn pleaded guilty Nov. 7 to conspiracy to violate the Export Control Reform Act after he illegally shipped sensitive technology, including semiconductors, from the U.S. to Russia (see 2401180047), DOJ said.
The Treasury Department is scheduled to publish a final rule in the Federal Register Nov. 15 outlining new prohibitions and notification requirements for U.S. outbound investments in China’s semiconductor, artificial intelligence and quantum sectors. The agency released the rule in prepublication form in October (see 2410280043). It takes effect Jan. 2.