U.S. Export Controls on Chips to China – Explained

From the 2018 Export Control Reform Act to the Commerce Department's rules and the Entity List: how advanced AI chips and chipmaking tools are kept from China, and the gap that remains.

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How U.S. law bars U.S. semiconductor chips from sales to China Flowchart from the Export Control Reform Act to BIS regulations, four control levers, the license requirement, barred and allowed outcomes, the remote-access gap, notable Chinese firms on the Entity List, and penalties. 50 U.S.C. ch. 58 on LII Export Control Reform Act 2018 statute · 50 U.S.C. ch. 58 U.S. regulations administeredby BIS require a license toexport certain U.S.-linkedtech, including some madeabroad, to certain countries,companies & end uses. EAR on LII Bureau of Industry & Security (BIS), Commerce Department Writes the EAR · 15 C.F.R. 730–774 Supp. 5 to Part 744 on LII Review committee Commerce (BIS) chairs State, DoD, DOE vote Majority adds a firm Commerce Control List on LII What: tech AI chips (3A090) EUV & chip tools 15 C.F.R. § 742.6 on LII Where: buyer China or China-HQ'd + D:5 countries, Macau 15 C.F.R. § 734.9 on LII Reach: FDP rule § 734.9: also covers chips made abroad Entity List on LII Who: Entity List Part 744, Supp. 4 See firms below ↓ 15 C.F.R. § 744.23 on LII BIS license required § 742.6(a)(6) · § 744.23 · exporter must apply Remote Access Security Act (H.R. 2683) Gap Renting chips in overseas data centers is not an export 15 C.F.R. § 742.6(b)(10) on LII Barred by regulation § 742.6(b)(10): presumption of denial for advanced AI chips to China, e.g., Blackwell, Rubin, H100, A100 Supp. 2 to Part 748 (license conditions) on LII Allowed: case-by-case Jan. 2026 BIS rule (91 FR 1684) H200 (25% tariff), H20 Adopted in Trump 2nd term U.S. regulations tightly restrictchip exports to China. Entity List on LII Notable Chinese tech firms on the Entity List (year added) Being listed means a BIS license is needed to send the firm almost any item subject to the EAR, and license requests are usually denied. Chips & AI: Huawei (2019) · SMIC (2020) · YMTC, Cambricon (2022) Biren, Moore Threads (2023) · Sophgo, Zhipu AI (2025) Supercomputing: NUDT + national centers (2015) · Sugon (2019) Phytium, Sunway (2021) · Inspur (2023) AI surveillance: Hikvision, Dahua, SenseTime, Megvii, iFlytek (2019) Chip tools & drones: SMEE (2022) · DJI (2020) Partial list. Hundreds of Chinese entries in all, many with subsidiaries.
What the control list covers

Category 3 (Electronics) of the Commerce Control List, Supplement No. 1 to Part 774. Click a card to open the list.

3A090.aTop-end AI chipsIntegrated circuits with total processing performance (TPP) of 4,800 or more, or TPP of 1,600 or more with high performance density. Captures data-center GPUs such as the A100 and A800, H100 and H800, H200 and Blackwell.First adopted under Biden (Oct. 7, 2022 rule) 3A090.bSecond-tier AI chipsLower TPP and performance-density bands added in October 2023 to catch chips designed to sit just under the 3A090.a line. 3A090.cHigh-bandwidth memoryHBM stacks used alongside AI accelerators, added in December 2024. 4A090Computers & serversComputers, servers and systems that contain 3A090 chips, such as GPU server boards and AI systems. .z itemsProducts with 3A090 insideParagraph ".z" entries (e.g., 3A001.z, 4A003.z, 5A992.z) pull in other electronics, computers and networking gear that incorporate 3A090 chips. 3BChipmaking equipmentFab tools under 3B001 and 3B090, including EUV lithography and advanced etch and deposition equipment. 3D / 3ESoftware & technologySoftware and technical know-how for developing or producing the controlled chips and tools.

License requirement: 15 C.F.R. § 742.6(a)(6) for 3A090, 4A090 and related .z items. TPP is defined in the 3A090 technical notes. Thresholds summarized; see the current text before quoting numbers.

Violations & penalties
50 U.S.C. § 4819 on LII Ship anyway: penalties 50 U.S.C. § 4819(a)(1) “(1) In general. It shall be unlawful for a person to violate, attempt to violate, conspire to violate, or cause a violation of this subchapter or of any regulation, order, license, or other authorization issued under this subchapter, including any of the unlawful acts described in paragraph (2).”
§ 4819(a)(2) Specific unlawful acts
(A)

No person may engage in any conduct prohibited by or contrary to, or refrain from engaging in any conduct required by this subchapter, the Export Administration Regulations, or any order, license or authorization issued thereunder.

(B)

No person may cause or aid, abet, counsel, command, induce, procure, permit, or approve the doing of any act prohibited, or the omission of any act required by this subchapter, the Export Administration Regulations, or any order, license or authorization issued thereunder.

(C)

No person may solicit or attempt a violation of this subchapter, the Export Administration Regulations, or any order, license or authorization issued thereunder.

(D)

No person may conspire or act in concert with one or more other persons in any manner or for any purpose to bring about or to do any act that constitutes a violation of this subchapter, the Export Administration Regulations, or any order, license or authorization issued thereunder.

(E)

No person may order, buy, remove, conceal, store, use, sell, loan, dispose of, transfer, transport, finance, forward, or otherwise service, in whole or in part, or conduct negotiations to facilitate such activities for, any item exported or to be exported from the United States, or that is otherwise subject to the Export Administration Regulations, with knowledge that a violation of this subchapter, the Export Administration Regulations, or any order, license or authorization issued thereunder, has occurred, is about to occur, or is intended to occur in connection with the item unless valid authorization is obtained therefor.

(F)

No person may make any false or misleading representation, statement, or certification, or falsify or conceal any material fact, either directly to the Department of Commerce, or an official of any other United States agency, including the Department of Homeland Security and the Department of Justice, or indirectly through any other person—
(i) in the course of an investigation or other action subject to the Export Administration Regulations;(ii) in connection with the preparation, submission, issuance, use, or maintenance of any export control document or any report filed or required to be filed pursuant to the Export Administration Regulations; or(iii) for the purpose of or in connection with effecting any export, reexport, or in-country transfer of an item subject to the Export Administration Regulations or a service or other activity of a United States person described in section 4813 of this title.

(G)

No person may engage in any transaction or take any other action with intent to evade the provisions of this subchapter, the Export Administration Regulations, or any order, license, or authorization issued thereunder.

(H)

No person may fail or refuse to comply with any reporting or recordkeeping requirements of the Export Administration Regulations or of any order, license, or authorization issued thereunder.

(I)

Except as specifically authorized in the Export Administration Regulations or in writing by the Department of Commerce, no person may alter any license, authorization, export control document, or order issued under the Export Administration Regulations.

(J)

No person may take any action that is prohibited by a denial order or a temporary denial order issued by the Department of Commerce to prevent imminent violations of this subchapter, the Export Administration Regulations, or any order, license or authorization issued thereunder.