BIS Seeking Comments, Recommendations to Address Semiconductor Supply Chain Issues

The Bureau of Industry and Security is seeking comments on ways the agency can help boost the competitiveness and capacity of the U.S. semiconductor industry, according to a notice issued March 11. The comments, due April 5, will help inform the Commerce Department’s policy recommendations to the White House as part of a February executive order to address supply chain shortages of semiconductor chips (see 2102240068).

BIS said it is “particularly interested” in comments related to what “critical and essential goods and materials” make up the semiconductor manufacturing and packaging supply chain and what “capabilities” are necessary to produce semiconductors. The agency is also looking for feedback on “the availability of the key skill sets and personnel” needed to sustain a competitive semiconductor industry, the risks that will result from a failure to develop domestic “manufacturing capabilities” and the resilience of U.S. supply chains to support “emergency preparedness.” Commenters can also give insight on how other “key downstream capabilities” -- including food resources, artificial intelligence and quantum computing -- will be impacted by a failure to “sustain or develop elements of the semiconductor supply chain” in the U.S.

BIS is also looking for policy recommendations to help improve supply chains for semiconductor manufacturers, including whether the U.S. should pursue efforts to help reshore or nearshore chip facilities. Industry can comment on how the U.S. can better cooperate with allies to develop “alternative supply chains” from “nations that are, or may become, unfriendly or unstable.” BIS is also looking for feedback on the need for more research and development to maintain the U.S.’s technological leadership in critical goods that are “essential to semiconductor manufacturing.”