The U.S. Department of Commerce’s Bureau of Industry and Security (BIS) issued several restrictions on Dec. 2 aimed at blocking the Chinese communist regime from accessing advanced semiconductor technology and modernizing its military.
U.S. Secretary of Commerce Gina Raimondo said in a statement that the new rules are meant “to impair” China’s ability to produce technologies that threaten the security of the United States.
BIS imposed restrictions on 24 types of semiconductor manufacturing equipment, three types of software, and high-bandwidth memory chips. It also sanctioned 140 new entities related to Chinese semiconductor manufacturing and investment companies involved in the Chinese regime’s military modernization plan. The bureau also issued new compliance guidelines for domestic companies, advising them against selling to companies, exporters, or re-exporters of technology where the end user is unclear.
The rules are effective immediately and have a delayed compliance date of Dec. 31.
The latest rule package builds on several rule updates that BIS has made over the past several years to enhance the export controls meant to block the Chinese military from access to advanced semiconductor technology. Some of these enhancements have come as the U.S. government determined that existing rules and sanctions were not always effective, as technology may develop faster than the rulemaking process.
The latest rules package is a proactive one, officials stated, broadening the rules and restricting a wide array of technologies.
“As technology evolves, and our adversaries seek new ways to evade restrictions, we will continue to work with our allies and partners to proactively and aggressively safeguard our world-leading technologies and know-how so they aren’t used to undermine our national security,” national security adviser Jake Sullivan said in a statement.
The Trump and Biden administrations have been vocal about the national security risk it would pose if the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) were to advance its military with this competitive technology.
According to BIS, the CCP has mandated and incentivized domestic companies to “dedicate significant resources to realizing a whole-of-society approach” to building up a strong chips sector in China and is doing so “at the expense of the national security of the United States and its allies.”
The CCP’s goals with this technology include military modernization, the development of weapons of mass destruction, and social control, which stifles human rights even extraterritorially, according to U.S. officials.
“Today’s rules hamper the PRC’s ability to realize these objectives,” BIS stated, using the acronym for People’s Republic of China, the official name of the country under the CCP’s rule.
A top concern is large-scale artificial intelligence models, which have recently shown “striking performance improvements.” Officials say the models could be used to develop cyber, chemical, biological, radiological, or nuclear weapons, and the CCP has a record of using such technology for social control and repression.
In addition to blocking the CCP’s access to chip technology, the United States has sought to kickstart domestic production of advanced semiconductors and related manufacturing equipment through the CHIPS and Science Act. In recent weeks, the Biden administration has finalized several large grants to create chip hubs across the country.
