The proposed Chip 4 Alliance of the U.S., Japan, South Korea and Taiwan (see 2212280035 and 2210050009) likely will not be enough to keep U.S. semiconductor technology ahead of China, one lawmaker and several experts said during a Feb. 22 event hosted by the Atlantic Council. For the U.S. to achieve true multilateral chip cooperation, including with the EU, experts said, the U.S. may have to settle for watered-down restrictions.
Exports to China
Europe has so far “neglected” the increasing competitiveness of Chinese chip design companies, presenting “challenges across the dimensions of national security, supply chain resilience and technological competitiveness for Europe,” European research institutions said in a recent report. Written by the Digital Power China research consortium and the Leiden Asia Centre, the report said the EU should better invest in its own chip design capabilities, strengthen the “indispensability” of its chip firms through “policy interventions,” “map the risk profile of increasing reliance on Chinese chip design” and more.
House Foreign Affairs Committee Republicans are asking the Bureau of Industry and Security for information on its export enforcement and compliance efforts involving China, including steps to crack down on Chinese transfers of controlled U.S. technology to State Sponsors of Terrorism (SSTs). In a letter sent to BIS last week, Rep. Michael McCaul of Texas, chair of the committee, said he is concerned China’s “economic and trade ties” with terrorism sponsors is “undermining U.S. national security and foreign policy interests.” He and Rep. Michael Lawler, R-N.Y., asked BIS to provide information on recent Chinese export violations, licensing procedures, end-use checks and more by March 2.
Top Chinese academics believe the country should “amass a portfolio of patents that govern the next generation of chipmaking” to allow the country to counter U.S. semiconductor export controls, according to a Feb. 20 Bloomberg report. The report cites a bulletin recently published by the Chinese Academy of Sciences, the country’s “most influential scientific body,” which could represent China’s plan to evade U.S. export restrictions and demonstrate how it “could win a crucial technological conflict with Washington,” the report said.
Export Compliance Daily is providing readers with the top stories from last week in case you missed them. You can find any article by searching for the title or by clicking on the hyperlinked reference number.
As U.S. government regulators continue to face pressure from Congress to more quickly place export restrictions on emerging technologies, the Commerce Department and industry officials are grappling with the potential ethical consequences of controls on a technology that could have groundbreaking medical benefits.
The Bureau of Industry and Security suspended the export privileges of three people this week, including one person who tried to ship controlled items to an entity on the Entity List.
The U.S., the EU and others can take steps to improve how they administer export controls, deliver guidance to industry and more efficiently target dangerous end users, experts said this week. One expert specifically called on the U.S. to revise the Entity List, which should better isolate the worst export control offenders.
China "firmly opposes" the U.S. move to add six Chinese entities to the Entity List over their ties to China's "High Altitude Balloons" intelligence and reconnaissance activities, China's Ministry of Commerce said, according to an unofficial translation. Responding to a reporter's question on the inclusion of the entities, the ministry said it hopes the U.S. "will stop its unreasonable suppression of Chinese companies and will take necessary measures to resolutely safeguard the legitimate rights and interests of Chinese companies."
Export Compliance Daily is providing readers with the top stories from last week in case you missed them. You can find any article by searching for the title or by clicking on the hyperlinked reference number.