As the U.S. pursues new export controls on emerging technologies destined to China, it’s also focusing heavily on updating existing controls to close loopholes and keep pace with technological changes, National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan said this week.
The U.S. may need to take stronger export control actions to stifle Chinese progress in artificial intelligence, including broader semiconductor-related restrictions, a U.S. congressional commission heard this week. But the commission was also warned about the dangers of overly broad controls on more emerging technologies, such as quantum, which experts said could hurt instead of help U.S. competition with China.
The Commerce Department is reportedly investigating whether autonomous-trucking company TuSimple violated U.S. export controls.
The U.S. and the EU held the fifth meeting of the U.S.-EU Trade and Technology Council in Washington on Jan. 30, where the two sides again committed to increasing trade and cooperating on economic security and emerging technology issues, according to a European Commission readout of the meeting. The commission said the EU and the U.S. agreed to “explore ways to facilitate trade in goods and technologies that are vital for the green transition” and strengthen approaches to investment screening, export controls, outbound investment and “dual-use innovation.”
The Bureau of Industry and Security is seeing fewer unintended impacts from its most recent October 2023 chip controls compared with the initial set of rules released in 2022, a BIS official said this week. The official also said BIS is working to identify certain companies, including potentially Chinese chip making facilities, that are restricted from receiving sensitive U.S. chip manufacturing equipment, which could help exporters more easily do due diligence on their customers and supply chain partners.
The Bureau of Industry and Security is drafting an interim final rule that could clarify export control rules for certain semiconductors and expand a license exception for government end users. The rule, sent for interagency review Jan. 26, could clarify controls on certain “Radiation Hardened Integrated Circuits” and expand License Exception GOV (Governments, international organizations, international inspections under the Chemical Weapons Convention, and the International Space Station).
The European Commission last week officially launched a public comment period as it considers potential restrictions on outbound investments. Comments are due April 27, after which the commission plans to monitor past and current EU outward investments and “carry out an assessment of risks linked to such monitored transactions.” Potential screening rules could initially focus on outbound investments in a narrow set of technologies, including artificial intelligence, advanced semiconductors, quantum and biotech, the EU said (see 2401240078).
Dutch chip equipment maker ASML isn’t expecting to receive export licenses this year to ship several of its deep ultraviolet immersion lithography systems to China, along with one older DUV tool not previously disclosed by the company.
The Bureau of Industry and Security has been experiencing delays in semiconductor-related export license applications due to a higher number of disagreements with the other agencies that also review those licenses, a senior BIS official said this week.
The European Commission this week released a package of proposals that could lead to new restrictions for a host of transactions involving dual-use technologies, including by expanding the bloc’s screening of inbound investments, improving export control coordination among member states and studying the possibility of new outbound investment restrictions.