BIS Watch: CSET Releases Security Checklist For Next BIS Leader
Roslyn Layton spoke with Saif M. Khan just prior to his new post as Director for Technology and National Security at the National Security Council about a report he released in March while serving as a research fellow at Georgetown’s Center for Security and Emerging Technology (CSET). Khan has co-authored many, highly detailed reports which reflect on the importance of export controls and the Bureau of Industry and Security (BIS), and this latest report titled China’s Progress in Semiconductor Manufacturing Equipment: Accelerants and Policy Implications offers a security checklist for the future head of BIS. The list includes reducing China’s access to critical components required to build advanced SME by imposing export controls on these components. For more on the future of BIS as anticipation builds for President Biden’s pick to lead it, visit our Future of BIS page.
Time For New York To End Risky Tech Contracts
In a column for Forbes, Roslyn Layton warns about the more than $28 million the state has spent on tech contracts with Chinese state-owned tech manufacturers banned by U.S. military and intelligence agencies. The column points to a letter Dr. Layton sent to the New York Office of General Services (OGS) to understand whether the office considers federal restrictions on technology makers and how they weigh the impact of products from foreign adversarial state-owned enterprises. The letter emphasizes the current OGS request for bids for a significant hardware technology purchase, which will likely be decided in the weeks ahead. ”
U.S. Semiconductor Leadership: The Next Four Years
As part of the Coalition for a Prosperous America’s (CPA) annual conference, Roslyn Layton and CPA Chief Economist Jeff Ferry discussed their new report “Maintaining U.S. Leadership in Semiconductors and Countering China’s Threats.” In urging America to regain its leadership, Layton explained that the U.S. only makes about 12% of all chips globally, and is losing market share to China – losses that are accelerated by American companies selling semiconductor manufacturing equipment to China. Click here to watch the discussion, which starts at 36:28. Get the one page summary here.
Layton Tells VOA Incoming BIS Head Must Tighten Export Control Enforcement
During President Biden’s April 12 meeting with company leaders regarding the global shortage of semiconductors, Roslyn Layton told Voice of America’s White House Bureau Chief Steve Herman 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. She warned that the U.S. “has accelerated its decline in manufacturing and advanced technology with weak enforcement of export controls. This is something that the next leader of the Bureau of Industry and Security at the Department of Commerce needs to tighten.”
Washington State A Risk Center With Nearly $9 Million Spent On Restricted Chinese Tech
China Tech Threat’s ongoing state FOIA project has found that Washington State has emerged as a new risk center with neary $9 million spent on restricted Chinese government-owned technology, including risky purchases by the Washington State Legislature and Washington State Department of Labor and Industries.
China Tech Threat In The News:
- Washington Post: Roslyn Layton was quoted in a story on the impact on effectiveness of U.S. campaigns against Chinese tech.
- Forbes: With U.S. firms like Applied Materials, KLA and Lam Research continuing to sell advanced semiconductor manufacturing equipment to Chinese military fabs YMTC and CXMT, Dr. Layton’s latest column analyzes efforts by Senators Schumer, Cotton, and Rubio and Congressman McCaul who have decried these practices and called on Commerce Secretary Raimondo for better enforcement.
- Light Reading: Dr. Layton warns that “American leaders must demonstrate resolve to voters who demand tougher policy to address China’s increasingly aggressive military.” The outlet also explored how the U.S. and UK are attempting to lessen the China risk by building their own chip-making facilities and highlighted China Tech Threat’s semiconductor expertise.