BIS Issues New Export Controls Targeting GAAFET, Quantum, and Additive Manufacturing, and Ushers in New Age of Plurilateral Export Controls: 5 Key Takeaways

Anthony RapaAlan G. Kashdan, and Brendan S. Saslow

The U.S. Department of Commerce’s Bureau of Industry and Security (“BIS”) recently issued an interim final rule (“IFR”) under the Export Administration Regulations (“EAR”) imposing licensing requirements for exports to all destinations worldwide of certain gate all-around field effect transistor (“GAAFET”) technology, quantum computing items, advanced semiconductor manufacturing equipment (“SME”), additive manufacturing equipment, and aerospace coating systems technology.

The new measures are notable not only for their restrictive application to all destinations in the world—an unusual type of control under the EAR—but also for their institution of a new license exception, “Implemented Export Controls” (“IEC”), that allows for exports of the newly controlled items to specified “like-minded” countries that have instituted comparable export controls that are harmonized with U.S. controls.

The new controls are effective immediately as of September 6, 2024, with the exception of controls over certain quantum items, which take effect November 5, 2024, the cutoff date for public comment on the IFR.

Read the full client alert on our website.

New Semiconductor Export Controls: Executive Briefing

Anthony Rapa ●

On October 7, 2022, the U.S. Department of Commerce’s Bureau of Industry and Security (“BIS”) issued sweeping new export controls under the Export Administration Regulations (“EAR”) aiming to cut off support for China’s advanced computing and supercomputing capabilities, with the new controls targeting specified chips, chipmaking equipment, and related services.

The BIS rule, which runs over 100 pages, is the most significant expansion of semiconductor-related export controls in recent memory, if not the history of the EAR, and marks a decisive inflection point in the U.S. strategic competition with China. Companies in the semiconductor industry should gauge their exposure to China-related risk, which could be present in oblique and non-obvious ways, and service providers to the industry should assess their risk exposure in light of the rule’s provisions regarding U.S. person “support” for restricted activities.

Continue readingNew Semiconductor Export Controls: Executive Briefing

Westlaw Today: U.S. Commerce Department Issues Semiconductor-Related Export Controls

Westlaw Today, October 7, 2022

Anthony Rapa and Matthew J. Thomas ●

On August 15, 2022, the U.S. Department of Commerce’s Bureau of Industry and Security (BIS) issued an interim final rule imposing new export controls relating to certain semiconductor technology.

Specifically, the rule establishes a requirement under the Export Administration Regulations (EAR) to obtain a license from BIS before exporting to certain destinations the following materials and technologies:

      • Substrates of gallium oxide and diamond (ultra-wide bandgap semiconductors); and
      • Electronic Computer Aided Design (ECAD) software for the development of integrated circuits with Gate All-Around Field Effect Transistor (GAAFET) structures.

The control for the specified substrates is effective Aug. 15, 2022, while the control for the ECAD/GAAFET software is effective Oct. 14, 2022, with a comment period for industry that ran through Sept. 14, 2022.

The rulemaking follows public reports in July 2022 indicating that BIS had sent letters to chipmaking equipment manufacturers directing them not to export to China equipment capable of fabricating chips at 14 nanometers and below.

You can read more on our website.

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