Organisation · Policy, Trade & Geopolitics
BIS (Bureau of Industry and Security)
The US Commerce Department agency that writes and enforces dual-use export controls, maintains restricted party lists, issues export licences, and conducts end-use checks and enforcement actions.
- Type
- Organisation
- Domain
- Policy, Trade & Geopolitics, Export controls
Notes
Its rulemaking has become the primary lever of US semiconductor policy toward China since October 2022.
Overview
BIS, the Bureau of Industry and Security, is the agency of the US Department of Commerce that administers and enforces the Export Administration Regulations (EAR), the US rules on exports of commercial and dual-use items, software and technology. It decides which chips, tools and design data need a licence to reach which countries and end users, and it maintains restricted party lists such as the Entity List. For the semiconductor industry it is the most influential export control authority in the world, because US rules can reach products made abroad with US technology.
How it works
BIS writes the EAR, published in Title 15 of the US Code of Federal Regulations, and amends them through rules in the Federal Register. Items are classified against the Commerce Control List by Export Control Classification Number (ECCN); the classification, the destination, the end user and the end use together decide whether a licence is needed. Exporters submit licence applications to BIS, which reviews them with other agencies, and its Office of Export Enforcement investigates violations, with penalties ranging from fines to loss of export privileges.
BIS also maintains lists of parties that face extra restrictions, most visibly the Entity List, where adding a company means that most items subject to the EAR cannot be supplied to it without a licence. Its rules can extend to foreign-made items through foreign direct product rules, which apply when an item is made with certain US software, technology or equipment.
Since October 2022, BIS has used these powers heavily on semiconductors. A series of rules controls advanced computing chips above performance thresholds, equipment and technology for producing advanced logic and memory, and support by US persons for certain fabs in China, with later rules tightening and adjusting the thresholds. Because the rules change often, compliance teams track every new Federal Register notice.
Examples
- The October 2022 rule on advanced computing and semiconductor manufacturing items, which added controls on high-performance chips, fab equipment and supercomputer and semiconductor end uses.
- A chip company classifying a new AI accelerator under the EAR to see whether it exceeds the performance thresholds for licensing.
- An equipment maker applying to BIS for a licence before servicing tools at a restricted fab.
- A distributor's screening system blocking an order because the buyer appears on the Entity List.
Why it matters
Export compliance engineers, trade compliance managers, sales operations and legal teams at chip, equipment and EDA companies work under BIS rules every day: classifying products, screening customers, applying for licences and keeping records. A BIS decision can close a market overnight, and violations can bring large penalties and denial of export privileges, so the stakes reach company strategy as well as day-to-day shipping.
In the chip lifecycle, BIS rules matter from architecture, when performance choices may cross control thresholds, through design collaboration and the sharing of technology, to tapeout and fab choices, sales, shipping and field support.
It matters most to: Export Control Compliance Engineer, Export Control & Trade Compliance Manager, Import/Export Trade Compliance Specialist, Trade Compliance Manager
Common confusions
- Not the same as ITAR and the State Department
- ITAR is administered by the State Department's Directorate of Defense Trade Controls and covers defence articles on the US Munitions List. BIS administers the EAR for commercial and dual-use items, which covers most chips.
- Not the same as the Bureau of Indian Standards
- In India, BIS is the national standards body, which runs product certification schemes. The US Bureau of Industry and Security is an export control agency.
- Not the same as OFAC sanctions
- The Treasury's Office of Foreign Assets Control runs financial and trade sanctions programmes against countries and persons. BIS controls the export of items and technology; the two often apply together.
Sources
- About BIS (opens in a new tab), Bureau of Industry and Security, US Department of Commerce, 2026-10-22
- Implementation of Additional Export Controls: Certain Advanced Computing and Semiconductor Manufacturing Items; Supercomputer and Semiconductor End Use; Entity List Modification (Federal Register, 13 October 2022) (opens in a new tab), Federal Register (US Office of the Federal Register), 2026-10-22
- Supplement No. 4 to Part 744, Title 15: Entity List (opens in a new tab), Electronic Code of Federal Regulations (eCFR), 2026-10-22
- Bureau of Industry and Security (Wikipedia) (opens in a new tab), Wikimedia Foundation, 2026-10-22
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