Sponsors (11)
The bill strengthens semiconductor supply-chain security and regulatory clarity by banning finished tools from designated foreign adversaries while preserving narrow waivers, but it raises costs, risks delays and limits refurbished-equipment options for recipients and creates added compliance burdens.
State and local governments and small semiconductor businesses will face reduced supply-chain risk because grant recipients are barred for 10 years from buying finished fabrication equipment from designated foreign 'entities of concern', lowering the chance of adversary-controlled hardware in critical facilities.
Covered recipients (and the state partners that support them) can avoid project delays and wasted grant funds because narrow, controlled waivers let them obtain necessary finished tools when domestic or allied alternatives are unavailable or inadequate.
Covered entities and small businesses get clearer compliance rules because the bill specifies which finished fabrication tools are 'ineligible' (e.g., lithography, etch, deposition, inspection), reducing regulatory uncertainty for awardees and vendors.
Small businesses and state and local governments may face higher costs and slower project timelines because they must source non-foreign-of-concern finished fabrication tools that can be scarcer or more expensive.
Covered entities and small firms could lose access to usable refurbished machines when refurbishment by a 'foreign entity of concern' disqualifies equipment, forcing more expensive replacements and raising capital costs.
Awardees and the Department of Commerce will incur additional administrative and enforcement burdens because they must trace equipment origin and refurbishment histories to ensure compliance with the ban and waiver rules.
Based on analysis of 2 sections of legislative text.
Requires a 10-year ban in CHIPS-related award agreements on procuring/using completed semiconductor equipment made or refurbished by designated foreign entities of concern, with narrow waivers.
Introduced November 20, 2025 by Zoe Lofgren · Last progress November 20, 2025
Prohibits use, procurement, or installation of completed, fully assembled semiconductor manufacturing equipment made, assembled, or refurbished by specified “foreign entities of concern” in agreements for certain federal CHIPS-related awards for a 10-year period, while adding precise definitions for covered equipment and limited waiver paths. The rule lists categories of ineligible equipment (e.g., lithography, deposition, etch, inspection/test, wafer slicing/dicing, wire bonders, ion implantation, CMP, thermal processing, automated material handling) but excludes individual parts, chambers, subsystems, and subcomponents. Imposes the prohibition as a condition in award agreements administered under the CHIPS-era program authorities, requires the Secretary of Commerce to include the 10-year ban in agreements, and allows three narrow waiver routes for domestic/allied supply shortfalls or quality issues, refurbished-equipment situations, and instances covered by export controls plus a national-security waiver after interagency consultation.