Tag Archive for: exports

China curbs exports of key computer chip materials

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Gloved hand holding a microchip.

Gloved hand holding a microchip.

The Chinese government is tightening controls over exports of two key materials used to make computer chips.

From next month, special licenses will be needed to export gallium and germanium from China, which is the world’s biggest producer of the metals.

It comes after Washington’s efforts to curb Chinese access to some advanced microprocessors.

The announcement comes just days before a high-stakes trip to Beijing by US Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen.

On Monday, China’s Ministry of Commerce said the restrictions were needed to “safeguard national security and interests”.

The silvery metals are used in semiconductor, communications and military equipment. They are also key materials in products like solar panels.

Semiconductors, which power everything from mobile phones to military hardware, are at the centre of a bitter dispute between the world’s two largest economies.

The US has taken steps to restrict China’s access to technology it fears could be put to military use, such as chips used for supercomputing and artificial intelligence.

In October, Washington announced that it would require licences for companies exporting chips to China using US tools or software, no matter where they are made in the world.

The efforts have been joined by countries including the Netherlands and Japan.

Last week, the Netherlands announced that it would restrict exports of certain semiconductor manufacturing equipment.

This followed plans to restrict its “most advanced” microchip technology exports, which the Netherlands announced earlier this year.

The controls are expected to affect Dutch chip equipment maker ASML, a key player in the global microchip supply chain.

Meanwhile, Japan plans to restrict some of its computer-chip making exports.

The measures, which were announced in March, will affect 23 types of semiconductor manufacturing equipment.

China has frequently called the US a “tech hegemony” in response to export controls imposed by Washington.

In recent months, Beijing has imposed restrictions on US firms linked to the American military, such as aerospace company Lockheed Martin.

US Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen, who is due to make a four-day visit to…

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Report: US Wants Allies to Restrict Exports of Surveillance Tools

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The US government is reportedly looking to lead other nations in prohibiting the export of surveillance tools to authoritarian countries that could use them to commit human rights abuses.

The Wall Street Journal reports that the Biden administration is expected to “launch an initiative with friendly nations to establish a code of conduct for coordinating export-licensing policies” at the Summit for Democracy event hosted by the US Department of State that starts on Dec. 9.

The report cites unidentified administration officials who told the Journal that countries participating in this initiative will also “share information on sensitive technologies used against political dissidents, journalists, foreign government officials and human rights activists.”

It’s not clear what countries will be part of this initiative at the start, but based on existing US policies and the Summit for Democracy’s invite list, it seems likely that the export controls will be intended to prevent advanced surveillance technologies from being sold to Russia and China

This report follows the US Department of Commerce’s addition of NSO Group, Candiru, Positive Technologies, and Computer Security Initiative Consultancy to the Entity List for selling their spyware to governments that used them to target journalists, human rights groups, and others.

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That makes it harder for the quartet to do business with American companies. It doesn’t prevent them from selling their existing surveillance tools to authoritarian countries, however, and the new export rules expected to be announced at the Summit for Democracy might change that.

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West African fish meal exports undermine food security: Greenpeace

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Rising exports of fish meal and fish oil from West Africa to Europe and Asia are depriving millions of Africans of food, Greenpeace said Tuesday. 

In a report, the environmental group said that over half a million tonnes of fish used to produce fish meal and fish oil in the poor region could feed some 33 million people instead. 

Fish meal is made in factories dotted along the West African coast and is predominantly sold as feed for fish farms in the developed world. Fish oil serves a similar purpose. 

Much of West Africa’s fishing grounds are already overexploited and illegal fishing is a persistent problem.

Greenpeace said West Africa’s trade in fish meal and fish oil had grown tenfold between 2010 and 2019 — from about 13,000 tonnes to over 170,000 tonnes. 

Most fish oil and meal is exported to Europe and Asia.

The report cited “severe consequences for local populations”, explaining that the industry undermined food security across Mauritania, Senegal, The Gambia, Mali, and Burkina Faso.  

The main species used in the industry are small fish such as sardinella and bonga, which Greenpeace said constitute a vital source of animal protein for many in the region.

The group recommended that governments phase out fish oil and meal production from fish fit for human consumption, among other measures.  

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Spyware exports will need a licence under new EU rules – The Guardian

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The Guardian

Spyware exports will need a licence under new EU rules
The Guardian
The company's FinSpy software was offered for sale to Egyptian security services in June 2010, according to documents seen by the Guardian in 2011, and activists from Bahrain and Ethiopia claim to have been targeted by it. The spyware can infect PCs …

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finspy – read more