The Bureau of Industry and Security is placing new export controls on certain laboratory equipment that can be used for biotechnology purposes that may threaten U.S. national security, the agency said in an interim final rule released this week.
Export Control Classification Number (ECCN)
An Export Control Classification Number (ECCN) is an alphanumeric code that indicates the licensing requirements and provides a description of items on the Commerce Control List.
The Bureau of Industry and Security announced another set of changes to its semiconductor-related export controls Jan. 15, creating new lists of trusted chip designers and service providers, introducing new reporting requirements for certain higher-risk customers and making a host of other revisions, clarifications and updates to its existing restrictions, including its latest advanced AI chip controls released earlier this week.
A new Bureau of Industry and Security rule that will place new, worldwide export controls on advanced computing chips and certain closed artificial intelligence model weights was widely panned by the American semiconductor and technology industry this week, even as U.S. officials said the restrictions are necessary to keep American companies ahead of their Chinese competitors.
The Bureau of Industry and Security is placing new export controls on certain toxins, chemicals and other items that can be used to make bioweapons as part of a final rule to align its restrictions with allies'.
The Census Bureau added two new license codes and revised an existing license code in the Automated Export System this week to reflect the Bureau of Industry and Security's latest export controls on semiconductor manufacturing equipment and high-bandwidth memory (HBM) (see 2412020016).
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 soon will place new export controls over certain scientific testing and industrial processing equipment destined to Pakistan that had not previously faced license requirements, saying the items have been diverted through Pakistan to companies on the Entity List.
The Bureau of Industry and Security and its technical advisory committees should do more public outreach to make sure companies are aware of important export control updates sometimes buried in Federal Register notices, a BIS committee heard last week. That outreach is especially critical for companies working with industrial chemical processing equipment, a committee member and industry lawyer said, which has commercial uses but is increasingly drawing BIS scrutiny for its military capabilities, including in chemical weapons.
The U.S. Court of Appeals for the 9th Circuit rejected an argument from a Chinese engineering professor who said his illegal export shouldn't have been subject to national security controls, which made the export subject to a higher base offense (U.S. v. Yi-Chi Shih, 9th Cir. # 23-3718).
A set of new rules released last week by the Commerce and State departments will reduce licensing requirements for exports of certain space-related items to a range of U.S. trading partners and propose to transfer export control jurisdiction over other space-related defense items from the State Department to the Commerce Department, lowering trade barriers faced by the commercial space industry for years.