Exclusive | Tech war: tweak to US export control rules forces Chinese entities to cooperate, seek contact with American officials, sources say
- Bureau of Industry and Security (BIS) officials at the US embassy in Beijing have suddenly become busy after the change to the export control regime in October
- A BIS delegate is also expected to visit Wuhan this week, where some of the nation’s top chip makers are based
An adjustment to Washington’s latest export control regime last month is forcing affected Chinese entities to reach out to US officials for end-user checks, according sources briefed on the matter.
A Chinese entity on a trade watch list, or an unverified list, will be added to a trade sanctions list, or the entity list, if it fails to complete an end-user check within 60 days because of a lack of cooperation by the host government, according to the export control regulations issued by the US Bureau of Industry and Security (BIS) on October 7. The bureau conducts end-use checks to verify the bona fides of companies on these lists.
The tweak that directly links the two lists has added pressure on the Chinese companies and authorities to respond. The change has had an impact, as the BIS delegates at the US embassy in Beijing have suddenly become busy, according to a source, who declined to be identified as the matter is private.
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Previously, visits by US export control officials were often denied or postponed, with Covid-19 controls or conflicting schedules cited as reasons, but Washington’s move to directly link the unverified list with the entity list and the 60-day time limit have sharply increased the urgency for affected entities to seek solutions, the source added.
The Post reported last week that US officials conducted initial talks with China’s top semiconductor equipment maker, Naura Technology Group, as one of its subsidiaries was added to the unverified list.
Meanwhile, a BIS delegate from the US embassy in Beijing is scheduled to visit Wuhan this week, according to a source.
Wuhan-based entities, including China’s top memory-chip maker Yangtze Memory Technologies Co (YMTC), Wuhan Juhere Photonic Technologies and Wuhan Institute of Biological Products are among the 31 entities that were added to Washington’s unverified list on October 7.