The latest U.S. semiconductor-related export restrictions represent a strengthening of controls on China along with a “massive” expansion of foreign direct product rule restrictions, but they also include some head-scratching loopholes that chip firms will exploit, semiconductor policy researchers said this week.
Country of origin cases
The U.K. transitioned an EU countervailing duty on biodiesel from Indonesia to its own trade remedies authority on Nov. 28. The move maintains the CVD rates on shipments of fatty-acid mono-alkyl esters or paraffini gasoils obtained from synthesis or hydro-treatment and of non-fossil origin in pure or blended form. The duties range from 8% to 18%.
A new set of U.S. export controls announced this week target a range of semiconductor manufacturing equipment, chip software tools, high-bandwidth memory and more, including by introducing new license obligations on certain foreign-made tools that the Bureau of Industry and Security said can be used by China to make advanced chips for its military. BIS also added more than 100 entities to the Entity List, most based in China, for aiding Beijing's military technology goals.
The Bureau of Industry and Security added more than 100 entities to the Entity List and released a new set of semiconductor-related export controls on Dec. 2, introducing new license requirements for both U.S.-origin and foreign-produced chip tools and publishing new red flag guidance on how companies should be vetting Chinese chip factories.
The U.S. government likely needs to change the way it's trying to convince Japan, the Netherlands and other allies to impose export controls on a broader set of semiconductor manufacturing equipment, including by potentially offering them economic incentives and loosening some existing export restrictions, researchers said in a new report this month. The authors also said the Bureau of Industry and Security should survey American chip toolmakers to better understand global chip markets, which can help it maximize the effectiveness of its current export restrictions.
The World Trade Organization's dispute settlement body on Nov. 25 agreed to establish a dispute settlement panel to review Colombia's compliance with an earlier ruling finding its antidumping duties on frozen fries from Belgium, Germany and the Netherlands violated WTO rules (see 2411140017).
An Indian national violated U.S. export controls by lying on at least one export application for dual-use aerospace technology, telling the government the item would be exported to India when he actually planned to send it to Russia, according to a DOJ indictment unsealed last week and the sworn affidavit of a Bureau of Industry and Security special agent.
The U.K. Office of Foreign Sanctions Implementation provided an overview of "red flags" that may indicate when Russian oil shipments have been "manipulated to appear as non-Russian through the use of fabricated or falsified certificates of origin." The guidance also lays out "potential mitigation measures" to help British entities shield themselves from the practice.
Chinese lidar company Hesai Technology filed an amended complaint in its suit against its designation as a Chinese military company after the Pentagon relisted the company (see 2410230018), arguing that the decision is "just as unsubstantiated and weak as the original one that they recently refused to defend" (Hesai Technology Co. v. Department of Defense, D.D.C. # 24-01381).
The Commerce and State departments are extending the public comment periods for one interim final rule and two proposed rules that are expected to revise U.S. export controls to remove a range of export barriers faced by the commercial space industry (see 2410180027 and 2411070024). Comments on all three rules originally were due Nov. 22, but the agencies said they are extending that deadline to Dec. 23 after the “regulated community” asked for more time.