US and Allies Developing Deal on Export Controls Targeting China’s Chip Access – By Edward Graham (Nextgov) / Oct 27, 2022
The head of the Commerce Department’s Bureau of Industry and Security “would put down money” on the U.S. implementing additional export controls on China’s access to advanced technologies.
The Biden administration expects to have “a deal done in the near-term” with U.S. allies to limit China’s access to advanced semiconductors and related equipment, according to Alan Estevez, undersecretary of Commerce for industry and security, who spoke at an event hosted by the Center for a New American Security on Thursday. He added that additional export controls on other advanced technologies remain on the table.
Officials are working to ensure that Chinese-focused export controls announced earlier this month by the department’s Bureau of Industry and Security—or BIS—are similarly implemented by other countries, Estevez said, adding that efforts to make the rules multilateral remain “a work in progress.”
BIS unveiled the new export controls on Oct. 7, saying in a press release that the “series of targeted updates” were designed to “restrict the [People’s Republic of China’s] ability to obtain advanced computing chips, develop and maintain supercomputers and manufacture advanced semiconductors.” The export controls announced by the Commerce Department—which Estevez noted were only on the “highest-end chips”—also limit China’s access to advanced semiconductors produced in other countries that utilize U.S.-made equipment.
“This was not a surprise to our allies,” Estevez said about the new export controls. “What we keep hearing is, ‘ensure that you, the U.S., also have skin in the game.’ We’ve shown that we have skin in the game. We’ve taken action and we view it as a downpayment for what we’re going to do. And the discussions we’re having are good, so I’m very bullish.”
