| Date | 15 Jan 2026 |
|---|
A January 15, 2026 rule opens a discretionary license path for chips under 21,000 total processing performance and 6,500 GB/s total DRAM bandwidth, but only for exports from the United States, and only if supply, security, and U.S. lab-testing certifications are met.
IN BRIEF: Effective January 15, 2026, the Bureau of Industry and Security revised its license review policy so that applications to export from the United States certain advanced computing commodities, including the NVIDIA H200 and AMD MI325X, to end users in China or Macau move from a presumption of denial to case-by-case review when total processing performance is under 21,000 and total DRAM bandwidth is under 6,500 GB/s and the certifications in supplement no. 2 to part 748 are provided (91 FR 1684, RIN 0694-AK43).
RECORD:
Date: January 15, 2026
Beat: Advanced computing export controls
Jurisdiction: United States; destinations China and Macau
Entity: Bureau of Industry and Security, U.S. Department of Commerce
Instrument / cite: 91 FR 1684–1689; FR Doc. 2026-00789; Docket No. 260112-0028; RIN 0694-AK43; 15 CFR 742.6, 744.23, 748.8, and supplement no. 2 to part 748
Source type: Federal Register final rule
Confidence: confirmed
Record ID: N/A
Source: Federal Register
The Bureau of Industry and Security did not drop the license requirement for these chips. It changed the review standard. In a final rule effective January 15, 2026, BIS revised the license review policy for exports of certain semiconductors to China and Macau, “changing it from a presumption of denial to a case-by-case review.” The rule was signed by Julia A. Khersonsky, Deputy Assistant Secretary for Strategic Trade, filed at 4:15 p.m. on January 13, 2026, and published as 91 FR 1684 (FR Doc. 2026-00789, Docket No. 260112-0028, RIN 0694-AK43). Case-by-case is not an approval. BIS and reviewing agencies “will determine, on a case-by-case basis, whether to approve or deny the license of these specific commodities.”
The covered band is numerical, and the rule names the chips that sit in it. The summary states that the semiconductors covered “are the Nvidia H200 and its equivalents, as well as less advanced chips,” provided they are commercially available in the United States at publication and the exporter makes the required certifications. The operative text in 15 CFR 742.6(b)(10)(iii)(A)(1) is tighter: a case-by-case policy applies to license applications for exports of commodities with a total processing performance, as defined in Technical Note 2 to 3A090.a and 3A090.b, of less than 21,000, and a “total DRAM bandwidth,” as defined in the notes to paragraph (dd)(1) of supplement no. 2 to part 748, of less than 6,500 GB/s, when destined to end users in China or Macau, if the applicant supplies the information in paragraph (dd). The preamble cites the NVIDIA H200 and the AMD MI325X as examples of that band. “Total DRAM bandwidth” is the aggregate memory bandwidth, in gigabytes per second, between the integrated circuit and dynamic random access memory, including copackaged high-bandwidth memory and non-copackaged graphics double-data-rate memory, with remote bandwidth already counted as interconnect bandwidth excluded.
The shift is narrow. The same paragraph keeps a presumption of denial for all other applications for exports, reexports, or transfers (in-country) to or within Macau or destinations in Country Group D:5, and for an entity headquartered in, or whose ultimate parent is headquartered in, Macau or a Country Group D:5 destination. Reexports, including exports from abroad, and in-country transfers of these same commodities to Macau or Country Group D:5 stay under a presumption of denial. So does an export to a Macau- or D:5-headquartered entity even when the end user sits outside those destinations. If an application meets more than one licensing policy, “this licensing policy and its requirements will be applied.” Applications that lack the paragraph (dd) certification, or a commitment to submit it before export, remain under the presumption of denial.
The certification is the price of the new review standard. The applicant must report U.S. commercial shipments and the performance set: TPP, total DRAM bandwidth, interconnect bandwidth, copackaged DRAM capacity, and peak power consumption at maximum TPP, plus an explanation of any specification change since launch or prior shipment. The applicant must show sufficient U.S. supply so that authorized exports will not delay existing or new U.S. orders for its advanced-node integrated circuits, taking normal lead times into account, and that global foundry capacity otherwise used for similar-node or more advanced circuits for U.S. end users will not be diverted to produce the licensed commodities for China. The preamble describes a volume cap: aggregate shipments to China and Macau “will be no more than 50% of the total product shipped to customers for end use in the United States of that product.” The operative certification in paragraph (dd)(1)(iii) is measured in performance, not units: aggregate TPP exported to China or Macau “will be no more than 50 percent of the aggregate TPP shipped to customers in the United States” for the same commodities, from first U.S. commercial shipment to the application date. The text uses the phrasing “advanced-node integrate circuits.”
End use and access controls sit inside the same certification. The commodities may not be for a military or military-intelligence end use or end user under 15 CFR 744.21 and 744.22, nor for a nuclear, missile, or chemical or biological weapons end use or end user under 15 CFR 744.2 through 744.4. Parties subject to 15 CFR 744.8 or 744.11 may not be involved, and those parties, along with military and military-intelligence end users, may not receive remote access. The applicant must obtain and submit the ultimate consignee’s Know Your Customer procedures and a description of physical security. It must also list intended Infrastructure-as-a-Service remote end users located in, or ultimately parented in, Belarus, China, Cuba, Iran, Macau, North Korea, Russia, and Venezuela. Where the consignee or end user provides IaaS, the applicant must verify that model weights trained on the commodities will not be transferred to an end user not previously disclosed, or without BIS authorization, and that a prohibited party will not receive remote access to any algorithm trained on them. Certifications go to BIS through SNAP-R before export. BIS “will routinely confirm the accuracy of relevant elements of the following certifications, using any methods it deems appropriate.”
Independent testing is a condition of shipment, not a paperwork formality. Before export on an approved license, every shipment must be reviewed by a qualified third-party testing lab. The lab may use a representative sample of a batch it selects, rather than test every semiconductor. The lab must be headquartered in the United States, not controlled by an entity headquartered or parented in Country Group D:5 or Macau, and must test in the customs territory of the United States. It may not hold an ownership or financial stake in the exporter, ultimate consignee, or any other party, and may not benefit from the export beyond its testing fee. It must be able to confirm that TPP, total DRAM bandwidth, interconnect bandwidth, and copackaged DRAM capacity are at or below the application. The exporter must obtain the lab’s certification and submit it to BIS, with the lab’s name and U.S. address, before export. BIS “may revoke the qualification of any third-party testing lab at any time and for any reason.” Revocation suspends case-by-case availability for exporters using that lab until a new qualified lab is named.
BIS grounded the change in U.S. technological superiority and wrote that the action is “necessary to ensure the national security benefits of U.S. leadership in artificial intelligence (AI).” The conditions, it said, are meant to keep destination-country computing capability from exceeding U.S. capability or supply, and to avoid a diversion of foundry capacity detrimental to national security. A conforming amendment to 15 CFR 744.23(d)(3) extends the same case-by-case standard to items specified in 744.23(a)(3)(i)(A) that meet the 742.6(b)(10)(iii)(A)(1) criteria. The rule amends 15 CFR parts 742, 744, and 748 under the Export Control Reform Act of 2018, 50 U.S.C. 4801–4852. Under section 1762 of ECRA, 50 U.S.C. 4821, it is exempt from Administrative Procedure Act notice-and-comment and from a delayed effective date. BIS classified it as significant under section 3(f) of Executive Order 12866 and exempt from Executive Order 14192 because its primary direct benefit is national security. On paperwork, BIS estimated 100 additional license applications a year under OMB Control Number 0694-0088, adding 28.3 burden hours, on the view that industry is more likely to file when review is case-by-case rather than a presumption of denial. Category 3 technical questions go to Carlos Monroy at 202-482-3246; general questions go to the Regulatory Policy Division, Office of Exporter Services, at 202-482-2440.
For a chip designer, a foundry customer, or an enterprise buyer, the operative fact is the split between review policy and authorization. A U.S. export of an H200-class part, or an equivalent under the stated thresholds, can now be argued on its certifications. It cannot be shipped on the strength of the policy change alone. The 50 percent aggregate-TPP certification, the foundry-diversion showing, the IaaS model-weight restriction, and a U.S. lab confirmation that BIS can revoke at will are conditions of eligibility, not assurances of a license. Reexport and in-country channels for the same commodities remain under a presumption of denial.
WHY IT MATTERS: The rule creates a documented, discretionary route for a defined performance band — the NVIDIA H200, the AMD MI325X, and less advanced equivalents — into China and Macau, while leaving denial as the default for every path that is not a direct U.S. export meeting paragraph (dd). Investors and buyers should read an application under this policy as a filing under conditions, not as cleared supply.
LINKEDIN HASHTAGS (5):
#Semiconductors #AI #ExportControls #BIS #NVIDIA