US BIS extends comment period on Oct 2023 semiconductor manufacturing and advanced-computing IFRs

Mechanism

This is a two-page procedural notice only. BIS invoked its standard authority to modify comment periods under the Administrative Procedure Act. The justification given was the complexity of the two parent IFRs and the extensive public outreach BIS had undertaken since their publication, which left stakeholders needing more time to fully assess the regulatory implications before filing substantive comments.

The two parent IFRs covered by this extension:

• 88 FR 73424 (SME IFR): export controls on semiconductor manufacturing equipment,

expanding controls on wafer-fabrication tools and cleaning equipment used to produce advanced chips; filed in the IPTM register as 2023-10-17-us-bis-advanced-chip-controls-expansion.

• 88 FR 73458 (AC/S IFR): implementation of additional export controls on advanced

computing chips, supercomputers, and semiconductor end-use; part of the same rulemaking package addressed in the same filing.

Downstream implications

• No policy change; this notice has zero standalone effect on trade flows or company

compliance obligations.

• Signals BIS responsiveness to industry complexity concerns during the Oct 2023 rollout.
• The extended comment window (to January 17, 2024) informed subsequent corrections

published April 4, 2024 (see 2024-04-04-us-bis-acs-sme-corrections-nac-split).

Open questions

• None. Purely procedural — file for rulemaking-lineage completeness.