Although Huawei has been able to overcome strict U.S. export controls to design advanced, high-performing chips in recent years (see 2403070059, 2309190052 and 2309120005), a report this month from Georgetown University's Center for Security and Emerging Technology suggests that Huawei’s chip performance increase is “smaller than advertised” and the company still faces significant production limits.
Exports to China
Senior U.S. sanctions and export control officials recently warned a group of American CEOs to do more due diligence on their semiconductor shipments, telling them Chinese suppliers are frequently sending their products to Russia.
The Biden administration is aggressively using export controls and sanctions against China, despite a lawmaker’s claims to the contrary, a State Department official told a congressional panel June 27.
Sen. Rick Scott, R-Fla., introduced a package of three bills aimed at reducing U.S. investment in China. The legislation would “ensure that no American dollars will end up in the hands of a country actively working against America in an attempt to undermine our national security,” Scott said.
Canada this week began a review to decide whether it will extend its antidumping and countervailing duties on certain imported silicon metal from China, the Canadian International Trade Tribunal announced. The Canada Border Services Agency is expected to decide by Nov. 21 whether there will be a “likelihood of resumed or continued dumping or subsidizing” if the duties were to expire. If CBSA reaches a “positive determination,” the tribunal will decide by April 30 whether that dumping or subsidizing “is likely to result in injury to the domestic industry." The country last extended the duties in 2019.
Russia has been able to sustain its war effort against Ukraine because of its ability to evade Western export controls on key military parts and semiconductors, said Maria Snegovaya, a senior fellow with the Europe, Russia and Eurasia Program at the Center for Strategic and International Studies. She said Russia is importing large amounts of controlled items from China and continuing to indirectly buy from Eastern European nations like Turkey through transshipment tactics and shell companies.
Japan recently announced sanctions and export restrictions on people and companies for aiding Russian war efforts against Ukraine, including parties in China, India, Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan, according to an unofficial translation of a notice from Japan's Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry.
The House of Representatives passed a bill by voice vote June 25 that would impose sanctions on foreign persons who engage in or facilitate forced organ harvesting in China (see 2406240032). Lawmakers cited reports, including a recent State Department human rights report, that say that Falun Gong spiritual movement followers and Uyghur Muslims are among the main victims of involuntary organ harvesting. The House approved a similar bill by a 413-2 vote in March 2023, and it’s unclear whether either proposal will clear the Senate.
The U.S. fined an Italian animation company $538,000 after it violated U.S. sanctions by outsourcing work to an animation studio owned by the North Korean government, the Office of Foreign Assets Control said in an enforcement release. The company, Mondo TV, illegally used U.S. banks to send money to the studio through wire transfers, OFAC said.
The Biden administration hopes that new export controls and sanctions against Russia's war machine suppliers, including China, will spur Beijing to rethink its support for Moscow’s invasion of Ukraine, a State Department official said June 26.