Key Notes:
- These two Interim Final Rules reinforce the October 7, 2022, controls appended to the EAR to restrict China’s ability to both purchase and manufacture certain high-end chips critical for military advantage.
- The rules impose controls on additional types of semiconductor manufacturing equipment, adjust the parameters that determine whether an advanced computing chip is restricted, and impose additional measures to address risks of circumvention of the controls.
- On November 6, 2023, the Assistant Secretary for Export Administration conducted a public briefing on these two Interim Final Rules.
- Public comments on these interim rules are due no later than December 18, 2023.
On October 25, 2023, the Department of Commerce’s Bureau of Industry and Security (BIS) published two significant Interim Final Rules updating the agency’s October 7, 2022, rulemaking that target support for China’s semiconductor manufacturing items, software, and technology and access to advanced computing. According to Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo, these updated rules “will increase effectiveness of [U.S.] controls and further shut off pathways to evade our restrictions. These controls maintain our clear focus on military applications and confront the threats to our national security posed by the [Chinese] Government’s military-civil fusion strategy.”