An investment and research firm expects the Bureau of Industry and Security to issue several proposed rules for export controls related to semiconductors this fall and said BIS is considering other restrictions on certain Chinese technology companies. In a Sept. 17 report, the Cowen Washington Research Group said BIS is “likely” to soon issue several notices of proposed rulemaking to request industry comment on new controls for semiconductor capital equipment, mostly so the U.S. is prepared with new proposals for the next Wassenaar Arrangement cycle.
The Census Bureau hopes to release its new online voluntary self-disclosure portal (see 2103100022) by the year's end or early January, said Kiesha Downs, chief of Census’ Foreign Trade Division’s regulations branch. Downs, speaking during the Commerce Department’s Sept. 14 Regulations and Procedures Technical Advisory Committee meeting, said Census has been overwhelmed lately by a large number voluntary disclosures -- partly because the branch has lost some staff (see 2106080058) -- and hopes the new portal will help.
The Bureau of Industry and Security should establish a blanket exemption for U.S. people and companies to participate in standards-setting bodies that have members designated on the Entity List, industry officials said. Although BIS has been working on a final rule (see 2012150037) that would clarify how export restrictions apply to the release of controlled technology at standards-setting organizations, officials from the telecommunications industry and other technology sectors are unsure how the rule’s final language will read and are concerned some of the agency’s restrictions, which they view as unnecessary, may continue.
The Bureau of Industry and Security is seeking comments on an information collection related to the Biden administration's review of risks in the semiconductor supply chain (see 2103110047 and 2107280051), BIS said Sept. 14. BIS is seeking feedback from industry to better “identify data gaps and bottlenecks in the supply chain.” BIS said the Commerce Department’s “overall goal” is to “add transparency on the semiconductor supply and demand mismatch and identify common bottlenecks and chokepoints.” Comments are due within two days of the publication of the notice on the Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs website. See the notice for search terms on the OIRA website.
Alan Estevez, President Joe Biden’s nominee to lead the Commerce Department’s Bureau of Industry and Security (see 2107130004 and 2104070026), will appear before the Senate on Sept. 21 for his nomination hearing, a congressional aide said Sept. 14. Also scheduled that day is Thea Kendler, nominee for assistant secretary of commerce for export administration (see 2107280063), the aide said. The two will testify before the Senate Committee on Banking, Housing and Urban Affairs, which posted notice of the hearing late on Sept. 14.
The Bureau of Industry and Security this week sent a final rule for interagency review that would expand export controls on certain biological equipment software. The rule, received by the Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs Sept. 13, would amend the Commerce Control List by adding a new Export Control Classification Number to control software “for the operation of automated nucleic acid assemblers and synthesizers” that are “capable of designing and building functional genetic elements from digital sequence data.”
The Census Bureau hopes to soon announce a final decision on whether it will eliminate export filing requirements for shipments to Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands, an issue it has considered for months as officials have searched for alternative sources to collect the export data (see 2104230025). But the agency hasn't been able to find a legitimate substitute for the data and seems unlikely to eliminate the restrictions, especially over strong objections by the Commerce Department’s Bureau of Economic Analysis.
The top Republican on the House Foreign Affairs Committee said the acting head of the Bureau of Industry and Security misrepresented facts in front of a congressional commission last week (see 2109080062), saying he wasn't straightforward about the agency’s “delayed and incomplete” provision of export licensing decisions to Congress. Although BIS Acting Undersecretary Jeremy Pelter told the commission that BIS has complied with all laws regarding the disclosure of licensing information to Congress, Rep. Michael McCaul said the agency hasn’t been transparent.
The Commerce Department's Bureau of Industry and Security is willing to consider ways to accelerate its emerging and foundational technology control effort but won't abandon its multilateral efforts just to publish controls more quickly, a top official told a bipartisan congressional commission on China Wednesday. Acting BIS Undersecretary Jeremy Pelter acknowledged criticism that the agency is moving too slowly on the congressionally mandated export control effort but defended the work BIS has done so far and said the agency doesn’t plan to change course.
The Commerce Department’s delay in issuing emerging and foundational technology controls may not be hampering U.S. foreign investment reviews as much as some lawmakers have suggested, trade lawyers said. Although the Committee on Foreign Investment in the U.S. doesn’t yet have a clear set of Commerce-defined critical technologies to target, that has not slowed down CFIUS from catching non-notified deals in critical technology sectors, the lawyers said in interviews, especially those involving semiconductors (see 2109010051).