BIS Working on Clarifications, Corrections to Updated Chip Controls, Official Says

The Bureau of Industry and Security is planning to soon issue a rule that will offer clarifications and corrections to its recently updated export controls on advanced semiconductors and chipmaking equipment, said Thea Kendler, the agency’s assistant secretary for export administration (see 2310170055).

Kendler, speaking during a Nov. 6 BIS public briefing on the chip controls (see 2310250007), said that rule will be issued “in the near term” and will “clarify several of the issues” that have been brought to the agency’s attention since it released the updated controls last month. The rule also will correct “some specific provisions that on further review may not have fully hit the mark we intended with the Oct. 17 rules,” she said.

The agency also is planning to issue frequently asked questions to provide guidance on the new chip controls, Kendler said. She specifically said the agency has been asked to clarify the scope of the updated controls’ exclusions for certain U.S. persons activities, including one that applies to U.S. persons employed or working for a company headquartered in the U.S. or a destination in Country Group A:5 or A:6 and not majority-owned by an entity headquartered in China, Macau or a destination in Country Group D:5.

Kendler said this exclusion was meant to “ease the compliance burden and corresponding disincentive to employ" U.S. people while "still comprehensively regulating the activities of U.S. entities in support of these end uses.” BIS “has received many questions about the scope of these exclusions and we plan to address them in future published guidance,” Kendler said.