The American Bureau of Industry and Security (BIS) has announced that it will impose stricter export control on many products with commercial and military applications, including materials such as gallium oxide and diamonds, software used to design advanced chips, and new technologies that could soon improve gas turbines.
US-China tensions continue to escalate
The BIS, an agency of the U.S. Department of Commerce, states that there will be new export controls on technologies deemed necessary for U.S. national security. announced. The rule took effect on Monday. By force, the audit will include advanced semiconductors and four technologies that support the production of gas turbine engines.
All four technologies will be covered by the Wassenaar Arrangement, meaning that 41 other states will also impose stricter export controls on these products. China, a strategic competitor of the USA, was not on the list of these countries, but will be officially added with the final regulation.
Deputy Minister of Trade for Export Management Thea D. Rozman Kendler“We want to protect the four technologies identified in today’s rule from nefarious end use by applying controls through a multilateral audit” said.
US continues to put pressure on China
The new rule is envisioned to come with stricter export controls for gallium oxide and diamonds, two substrates of ultra-widebandgap semiconductors. Devices manufactured using these materials reportedly have increased military potential as they operate under more severe conditions such as higher voltages or higher temperatures than devices made of gallium nitride or silicon carbide.
Pressure Gain Combustion (PGC), a technology that increases the thermal efficiency of gas turbines, will also be affected by the new rule. The BIS states that the PGC has significant potential for terrestrial and aerospace applications, including rockets and hypersonic systems.
The cutting-edge technology affected by the new export controls is Electronic Computer Aided Design (ECAD) software created to assist in the development of integrated circuits with the GAAFET structure. Engineers use ECAD software to design, analyze, optimize and verify the performance of ICs and PCBs. Thanks to this technology, processors are 3nm or below. can be scaled.
Since no Chinese factory could produce such advanced chips at this point (Chinese SMIC manufactures a 7 nm DUV-based node), the restriction of ECAD systems is likely to have minimal short-term impact on China’s chipmaking industry.
Earlier this month, the US also exported processor-making tools to China. introduced new restrictions. Meanwhile, Huawei post US sanctions income decline had reported. BISChinese company had added it to the Entity List three years ago.