US effort to curb China’s and Russia’s access to advanced computer chips ‘inadequate,’ report finds
WASHINGTON — The efforts of the Ministry of Commerce to curb China’s And Russia’s entry of advanced U.S.-made computer chips have been “inadequate” and will need more funding to hamper their ability to manufacture advanced weapons, according to a report published Wednesday by the Senate Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations.
The Biden administration export controls imposed to limit China and Russia’s ability to subsequently access US chips The Russian invasion of Ukraine almost three years ago.
The agency’s Bureau of Industry and Security lacks the resources to enforce export controls and has been overly dependent on U.S. chipmakers’ voluntary compliance with the rules, according to the report.
But the push to strengthen Commerce’s enforcement of export controls comes as the new Trump administration says it is taking a dramatic look reduce the size and scope of the federal government. president-elect Donald Trump has appealed to entrepreneurs Elon Musk And Vivek Ramaswamy to lead a new one “Department of Government Efficiency” to dismantle parts of the federal government.
Trump’s transition team did not immediately respond to a request for comment on the report.
The BIS’s budget, about $191 million, has remained essentially flat since 2010 when adjusted for inflation.
“Although the BIS budget has been stagnant for a decade, the agency works diligently around the clock to achieve its mission and protect America’s national security,” Commerce Department spokesman Charlie Andrews said in a statement in response on the report.
Andrews added that with “the necessary resources from Congress,” the agency would be “better equipped to address the challenges associated with our evolving national security environment.”
In a letter to Secretary of Commerce Gina Raimondo On Wednesday, Democratic Sen. Richard Blumenthal of Connecticut, chairman of the subcommittee, pointed to an audit of Texas Instruments that showed the Russian military continued to acquire parts of Texas Instruments through front companies in Hong Kong to illustrate how export controls are failing as an effective tool.
The commission’s findings suggest that Texas Instruments “missed clear warning signs” that three companies in its distribution chain had diverted products to Russia. Texas Instruments did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
“While Congress must provide the BIS with more resources to carry out its critical mission, it is long past time for the BIS to make full use of the enforcement powers Congress has granted it and take aggressive steps to of American semiconductors to cut off the Russian war machine. ,” Blumenthal wrote.
It’s not just about Texas Instruments. The subcommittee published a report in September showing that total exports from four major U.S. advanced chip makers nearly doubled to Armenia and Georgia between 2021 and 2022.
Both countries are home to front companies known to be helping Russia acquire advanced US-made chips despite export controls.
China, meanwhile, has created “vast, thinly veiled smuggling networks that allow the country to continue to exploit American technology,” the subcommittee report said.
Washington has gradually expanded the number of companies affected by such export controls in China as President Joe Biden’s administration has encouraged an expansion of chip investment and production in the US.
But Chinese companies have found ways to circumvent export controls, in part because of a lack of Chinese experts and speakers charged with enforcing Commerce’s export controls.
The agency’s current budget limits the number of international end-use controls, or physical verification abroad of distributors or companies that receive U.S.-made chips and are the presumed end-users of products. Currently, Commerce has only eleven export control officers located around the world to conduct such controls.
The committee made several recommendations in its report, including that Congress provide more money to hire additional staff to enforce export controls, impose higher fines on companies that violate controls, and require periodic reviews of export controls. export control plans of advanced chip companies by outside entities.
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Bo reported from West Palm Beach, Florida.