Sens. Marco Rubio, R-Fla., and Rick Scott, R-Fla., and Rep. Elise Stefanik, R-N.Y., have introduced legislation to increase the frequency and quality of information that Congress receives about U.S. investment in China.
Exports to China
The semiconductor industry is pushing the Biden administration for more transparency surrounding its future plans for export controls on chips and chip tools, saying the uncertainty is causing more foreign customers to avoid using advanced U.S.-origin technology. The industry also warned that China has seen a sharp uptick in domestic orders for chips and chipmaking equipment following the most recent U.S. controls, potentially jeopardizing sales to the American semiconductor industry’s largest market.
Chinese chip designer Brite Semiconductor is partly owned by a company on the Entity List yet still buys sensitive U.S. technology from two California software companies and receives funding from a U.S. venture capital firm backed by Wells Fargo, Reuters reported Dec. 13.
The Bureau of Industry and Security is working more closely with the Office of Foreign Assets Control on enforcement issues, which could allow the two agencies to better align the BIS Entity List and OFAC’s Specially Designated Nationals List, a BIS official said this week.
The House Foreign Affairs Committee on Dec. 13 advanced several bills that would revise U.S. export control regulations and procedures for dual-use technology.
Congress should require the Biden administration to strengthen export controls against China and give it new tools to restrict a broader range of inbound and outbound investments, the House Select Committee on China said in a Dec. 12 report.
The U.S. this week sanctioned more than 250 people and companies supplying Russia’s military in violation of U.S. sanctions and export controls, targeting procurement networks in China, Turkey, the United Arab Emirates and elsewhere. The Treasury and State departments said many of the newly sanctioned companies supplied Russia with goods listed on the Commerce Department’s list of common high-priority items, including electronic components, while others sold Russia advanced weapons and military technology.
The Biden administration’s recent decision to remove China’s Institute of Forensic Science (IFS) from the Entity List has led the Chinese government to become more helpful, at least initially, in stemming the flow of illegal fentanyl drugs to the U.S., Bureau of Industry and Security officials said.
Sen. Dan Sullivan, R-Alaska, is urging Congress to revisit legislation that would require U.S. firms to report outbound investments that could threaten American national security.
U.S. export controls will slow China’s innovation efforts, but they'll never “stop” the country from advancing technologically, Bureau of Industry and Security Undersecretary Alan Estevez said.