OMB Approves CHIPS Act Improper Use Final Rule

On Friday, the OMB’s Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs (OIRA) announced that it had approved a final rule from the Department of Commerce on “Preventing the Improper Use of CHIPS Act Funding”. The rulemaking had been sent to OIRA on August 8^th, 2023. The final rule could be published in the Federal Register later this week.

According to the Spring 2023 Unified Agenda entry for this rulemaking:

“The CHIPS Act established an incentives program to sustain and reestablish U.S. leadership across the semiconductor supply chain. To ensure that funding provided through this program does not directly or indirectly benefit foreign countries of concern, the Act includes certain limitations on funding recipients, such as restricting engagement in any significant transaction involving the material expansion of semiconductor manufacturing capacity in foreign countries of concern and prohibiting certain joint research or technology licensing efforts with foreign entities of concern. The Department of Commerce is issuing, and requesting public comments on, a proposed rule to set forth terms related to these limitations and procedures for funding recipients to notify the Secretary of any planned significant transactions that may be prohibited.”