Export‑licensing Bottleneck
U.S. export licensing is under strain after the Bureau of Industry and Security lost nearly a fifth of its licensing staff, slowing approvals for Nvidia and AMD AI‑chip exports to China. (tomshardware.com) Reports also say some restricted chips appear to have reached a Chinese firm despite controls, highlighting leakage risks amid the bottleneck. (zerohedge.com)
A staffing crunch inside the Commerce Department is slowing U.S. approvals for advanced chip exports just as Washington tightens controls on sales to China. (bloomberg.com) Bloomberg reported on April 10 that the Bureau of Industry and Security lost nearly 20% of its rulemaking and licensing staff over the past year. People familiar with the office said reviews that once moved faster are now stretching for months and creating billions of dollars in export backlogs. (bloomberg.com) The Bureau of Industry and Security is the Commerce Department office that decides whether sensitive U.S. technology can be shipped abroad. In fiscal 2023, it processed 37,943 license applications with an average processing time of 38 days, according to its annual report to Congress. (bis.gov) The workload rose after Washington imposed new license requirements on Nvidia’s H20 and Advanced Micro Devices’ MI308 artificial intelligence chips for China in April 2025. Nvidia later said the U.S. government granted licenses in August 2025 for certain H20 shipments and in February 2026 for small amounts of H200 shipments to specific China-based customers. (usnews.com) (sec.gov) (stocklight.com) Even with those controls, prosecutors and reporters have described restricted systems reaching China through indirect channels. The Justice Department said on March 19 that three men were charged in a scheme to divert U.S.-assembled artificial intelligence servers to Chinese customers through false documents and transshipment routes. (justice.gov) Reuters reported on March 27 that four Chinese universities, including two linked to the People’s Liberation Army, bought Super Micro Computer servers with restricted Nvidia chips over the past year, based on procurement records. Reuters said it was not clear how the servers were sourced. (usnews.com) Bloomberg then reported on April 10 that Shenzhen-based Sharetronic Data Technology disclosed 632 million yuan, or about $92 million, of Super Micro systems containing Nvidia H100 or H200 processors. Sharetronic said it complies with regulations and has no business relationship with Super Micro, while Bloomberg said the source of the hardware was unclear. (bloomberg.com) Super Micro said on April 7 that it had begun an independent investigation after the indictment of three people linked to the company on export-control charges. Reuters reported that the company itself was not named as a defendant in that case. (reuters.com) The bottleneck leaves Washington trying to do two jobs at once: block sensitive chips from reaching China and clear lawful exports for U.S. companies and allied buyers. Right now, the same office is under pressure on both fronts. (bloomberg.com)
