#FutureofBIS

Summarizing AEI’s Derek Scissors on Decoupling, Semiconductors, and BIS

Posted on by China Tech Threat
Derek Scissors, a scholar at the American Enterprise Institute (AEI), is a leading expert on trade and economic policy of the People’s Republic of China (PRC). He wrote the definitive guide to economic decoupling and offers a critical review of the actions of the Bureau of Industry and Security (BIS). As it relates to the eventual nominee to head BIS, he recently told China Tech Threat: “The Undersecretary for Industry and Security must accept that the philosophy of more sales always benefitting America is now damaging with respect to China and advanced technology. The most important sign of that acceptance is fully implementing the 2018 export control reform within six months of taking office.” One of Scissors contributions is the… Read More

Roslyn Layton Tells Voices of America The Importance of Securing the Semiconductor Industry in Both the Long and Short Term

Posted on by China Tech Threat
During President Biden hosted a virtual meeting with leaders of some of the country’s biggest companies impacted by a global shortage of semiconductors, on April 12, he noted that the U.S must find a way to “strengthen our domestic semiconductor industry and secure the American supply chain.”  This meeting and the President’s urgency on this matter is commendable. However, in an article published by Voice of America White House Bureau Cheif Steve Herman, Roslyn Layton made it clear that the short-term issue of a shortage of semiconductors for the automotive industry should not be confused with the larger, existential problem that the United States does not produce enough of its own chips. Dr. Layton went on to say that there… Read More

Biden Administration Giving Attention to Semiconductor Supply Chains

Posted on by China Tech Threat
At the end of February, President Biden issued an Executive Order directing several federal agency actions to secure and strengthen America’s supply chains. One of the directives is for the Commerce Secretary to submit a report to the President within 100 days “identifying risks in the semiconductor manufacturing and advanced packaging supply chains, and proposing policy recommendations to address these risks.” To aid in that effort, the Commerce Department’s Bureau of Industry and Security (BIS) issued a notice of request for public comments. China Tech Threat’s Roslyn Layton responded, highlighting research on this important area, including her recent report with the Coalition for a Prosperous America’s Jeff Ferry on “Maintaining U.S. Leadership in Semiconductors and Countering China’s Threats.” Her comment… Read More

Summarizing CSET on Security Without Collateral Damage

Posted on by China Tech Threat
Saif M. Khan is a leading tech policy expert with a background in intellectual property law and an education in physics. A Research Fellow at Georgetown’s Center for Security and Emerging Technology (CSET), he studies AI policy, semiconductor supply chains, China’s semiconductor industry and U.S. trade policy. Khan has written many, highly detailed reports which reflect on the importance of export controls and the Bureau of Industry and Security (BIS). He recently told China Tech Threat: “It is important for policymakers to have a deep understanding of both the complexities of export control regulations as well as the relevant technologies and supply chains to ensure export controls are crafted in a targeted way to achieve their intended security goals while minimizing… Read More

Summarizing CSIS on Getting Traction with BIS Export Controls: Short Term Panic Followed by Predictable Patterns

Posted on by China Tech Threat
On Friday, new names emerged as potential nominees for the Undersecretary position in the Department of Commerce’s Bureau of Industry and Security (BIS) – or as the New York Times put it, “The Agency at the Center of America’s Tech Fight With China.” While we await an official announcement, Center for Strategic & International Studies (CSIS) Senior Adviser and Scholl Chair in International Business William Alan Reinsch weighed in on the position at BIS. “I think the most important criterion is to find someone who can listen to the different points of view and produce regulations that will stand up in court and provide reasonable certainty to the business community,” he noted. “Policy decisions about China are going to be… Read More

BIS, Allies Must Coordinate on Export Controls to Keep Advanced Tech from Renegade Actors

Posted on by China Tech Threat
Stephen Ezell is the Vice President for Global Innovation Policy at the Information Technology and Innovation Foundation (ITIF), and he is a leading observer of international semiconductor policy. His new report, Moore’s Law Under Attack: The Impact of China’s Policies on Global Semiconductor Innovation, describes how China’s state-directed strategy to vault into a leadership position in the semiconductor industry distorts the global market with massive subsidization, IP theft, state-financed foreign firm acquisitions, and other mercantilist practices. China’s inferior innovators thus have a leg up—and the global semiconductor innovation curve is bending downward. Ezell estimates there would be 5,100 more U.S. patents in the industry annually if not for China’s innovation mercantilist policies. To address the challenge Chinese innovation mercantilism poses… Read More

Exclusive Interview: Potential Commerce Under Secretary Nominee Analyzes Vital Bureau

Posted on by China Tech Threat
China has a clear mission to achieve global military supremacy and is prepared to build, buy, siphon, or steal the latest and greatest tech to get there. When we’re dealing with China, it’s not business as usual, and we need to be vigilant to make sure sensitive technologies in particular are directed to their intended uses and don’t fall into rogue military hands. As the U.S. looks at policy levers to protect our leadership and interests, a little known bureau within the Department of Commerce called the Bureau of Industry and Security (BIS) is on the front lines for strategic trade control. In recent weeks, the Wall Street Journal and Financial Times have speculated about who will lead the 450-person… Read More