The Commerce Department should amend several portions of its proposed guardrails on recipients of Chips Act funding, including measures that could prevent the U.S. chip industry from participating in international standards bodies or inhibit “routine” business activities, trade groups and technology companies said in comments released this week. Some said Commerce should also limit which companies qualify as “foreign entities of concern” and revise the rule’s proposed definition for “legacy semiconductor” to more closely align with export controls.
Governments globally should “proceed carefully” when considering new trade restrictions on per-and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) to avoid “unduly” restricting current semiconductor innovation, the Semiconductor Industry Association said last week. The group said PFAS “are used in a wide range of industrial processes and consumer products,” and although some may present “environmental and health concerns,” governments should avoid controlling uses of the substances that may not present health and environmental risks.
The Commerce Department launched a paper this week detailing its strategy for a National Semiconductor Technology Center, a “key component” of the Chips Act designed to support and improve American leadership and competitiveness in semiconductor research, design, engineering and advanced manufacturing. The paper outlines how the NSTC will “accelerate America’s ability to develop the chips and technologies of the future,” the agency said, including by creating “affiliated technical centers around the country.”
Wireless industry commenters disagreed in docket 16-185 Monday on which of three views presented by the FCC’s World Radiocommunication Conference Advisory Committee Agenda Item 10, on spectrum for international mobile telecommunications (IMT) best reflects what the U.S. should advocate at the upcoming WRC. Carriers support a broad look. Several satellite operators also expressed concerns about considering portions of 7-15 GHz for IMT use. Among satellite operators, there was a lack of consensus about supporting a proposed future agenda item to review existing Ku- and Ka-band equivalent power flux density (EPFD) limits.
The Bureau of Industry and Security is relaxing its licensing policy for certain satellite exports, a change that could have a “major” impact on satellite industry sales, Commerce Deputy Secretary Don Graves said. As part of the change, BIS will review export applications for satellites and satellite components intended to go to Missile Technology Control Regime countries on a case-by-case review policy instead of a presumption of denial, Graves said.
The FCC Space Bureau reorganization "should be up and running soon," with OMB having signed off and the FCC working with Congress to get its approval, Chairwoman Jessica Rosenworcel said at the Satellite Industry Association's annual leadership dinner Monday, per prepared remarks posted Tuesday. The U.S. at 2023's World Radiocommunication Conference will take actions "that broadcast to the world how important we believe [the space sector] is to our future," she said. Rosenworcel said the single network future NPRM on this week's agenda and its proposed framework for allowing transmissions between satellites and consumer handsets using only spectrum available on terrestrial networks "can kick start more innovation in the space economy while also expanding wireless coverage in remote, unserved, and underserved areas." While making mobile dead zones "a thing of the past ... we have an opportunity to bring our spectrum policies into the future and think about how we move past the binary choices between mobile spectrum on the one hand or satellite spectrum on the other," she said.
Section 25.112(a)(3) is squarely in the sights of the satellite industry and allies, with numerous calls for its elimination Monday in docket 22-411. Multiple commenters opposed dismissing applications that contain curable errors or omissions. The satellite licensing streamlining NPRM was adopted 4-0 in December (see 2212210054).
New U.S. chip export controls are among the most complex export regulatory provisions ever published and have caused significant uncertainty in the semiconductor industry, trade groups and technology firms told the Bureau of Industry and Security in comments that were due this week. More than 40 companies, trade associations, law firms and others asked BIS to revise parts of the regulations or offer more guidance to avoid hurting U.S. competitiveness, with some saying the new controls may force foreign companies to stop using U.S.-origin items altogether rather than deal with the added compliance obligations.
Anna Gomez's appointment to lead U.S. preparations for the next World Radiocommunication Conference is considered positive for U.S. efforts at the upcoming conference. The State Department announced the six-month appointment Thursday (see 2301260072). It didn't mention she also would be given “presidential” ambassador rank, but industry officials told us that designation is likely coming, though it has to wait to avoid the need for Senate confirmation. WRC starts Nov. 20 at the Dubai World Trade Centre in the United Arab Emirates.
The Bureau of Industry and Security should have given its technical advisory committees more time to review its new chip controls before they were published in October (see 2210070049), which would have helped BIS mitigate unintended consequences for a dense and complex set of restrictions, a chip industry official and an advisory committee member said this week. The semiconductor industry also wished BIS had first proposed some of the restrictions for public comment before making them final, the official said, or delayed the effective date to give companies more time to decipher the rules, especially surrounding the new U.S.-persons restrictions.