BIS Eases Rules on Exports of Chips to China

The Bureau of Industry and Security has issued a final rule that, effective Jan. 15, eases its licensing policy for exports of certain semiconductors to China and Macau from a presumption of denial to a case-by-case review.

BIS states that the semiconductors covered by this rule are the Nvidia H200 and its equivalents as well as less-advanced chips. To qualify the chips must have been commercially available in the U.S. as of Jan. 15 and the exporter must (1) specify how many units have been shipped in the U.S. at the time of license application and (2) certify that:

– the chips operate below the specified performance criteria;

– there is sufficient supply of the chips in the U.S. such that the export will not (1) delay the fulfillment of any existing or new orders from customers in the U.S. for end-use in the U.S. or (2) divert reduce global semiconductor production capacity currently available to U.S. customers to produce authorized chips for export to China;

– the aggregate shipments of the chips to China and Macau will be no more than 50 percent of the total shipped to customers for end-use in the U.S.;

– the export is not prohibited by end-user or end-use controls or controls for non-military end-users and end-uses;

– the ultimate consignee will employ rigorous “know your customer” procedures to screen and prevent unauthorized remote access to unauthorized parties; and

– prior to export, every shipment will be reviewed by a qualified third-party testing lab to confirm the testing capabilities and functions of the chips described in the license application.