Although the EU is trying to reform its approach to export controls and other economic security issues, there still are loopholes in the bloc’s rules that allow technology to be illegally exported to China and elsewhere, EU policy experts said this week.
Michael Rithmire, former director of the Bureau of Industry and Security's Sensors and Aviation Division, joined semiconductor company Lam Research as its global trade director, he announced on LinkedIn last week. Rithmire most recently worked as a part-time consultant with Akin Gump after leaving BIS in September.
A trade association representing ASML, Applied Materials and other major semiconductor companies called on the EU to keep any new export controls narrowly targeted and abandon its plans for an outbound investment screening mechanism, saying new restrictions would be a “major interference” for the chip industry. It also cautioned European lawmakers about introducing new supply chain reporting obligations that would place too big a burden on industry.
The U.K. soon will update export controls on various military and dual-use technologies, which will align the country's rules with changes recently made by the multilateral Wassenaar Arrangement, the Australia Group, the Nuclear Suppliers Group and the Missile Technology Control Regime. The U.K. also will introduce new controls on "specific emerging technologies" that it has "committed to implement" alongside other "like-minded countries," the Department for Business and Trade said March 12.
Governments could eventually require companies to monitor their sensitive semiconductor equipment shipments by using location tracking features, which could help industry better conduct due diligence and improve government export enforcement, said Chris Miller, an expert on semiconductor technology policy and history.
Chinese semiconductor innovation could become “more difficult to assess” as Beijing grows more cautious about advertising its successes, which it fears could invite new U.S. export controls, said Paul Triolo, a China and technology policy expert.
The Group of 7 should expand membership and use the forum to create a new multilateral export control regime for critical and emerging technologies, which could help replace the outdated Wassenaar Arrangement, said Emily Benson, a trade and technology policy expert. She said G7 nations are open to the idea, although she believes the U.S. hasn’t yet decided on the best path forward.
Sen. Richard Blumenthal, D-Conn., who chairs the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations, has asked the Commerce Department for several types of information to help his panel better understand how Russia overcame export controls and sanctions to obtain U.S. technology for its military.
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American chip company Applied Materials has received multiple U.S. government subpoenas in recent months -- including one from the Bureau of Industry and Security -- asking for information about its exports to Chinese customers.