The U.S. Department of Commerce’s Bureau of Industry and Security (BIS) has imposed a civil penalty of $500,000 on GlobalFoundries U.S. Inc. for violating U.S. export controls. The penalty stems from 74 shipments of semiconductor wafers, valued at approximately $17.1 million, sent to SJ Semiconductor (SJS) between February 2021 and October 2022. SJS, a company linked to China’s Semiconductor Manufacturing International Corporation (SMIC), is on the BIS Entity List, meaning that shipments to the company required a specific license or authorization from BIS, which GlobalFoundries failed to obtain.
GlobalFoundries voluntarily disclosed the violations and cooperated with the BIS investigation, leading to a significant reduction in the penalty. The issue arose due to a data entry error in GlobalFoundries’ transaction screening system, which failed to flag SJS as a restricted party, despite the company’s connection to SMIC. The BIS emphasized the importance of vigilance when exporting semiconductor materials, particularly to Chinese entities, and praised GlobalFoundries’ self-disclosure and corrective actions.
This case is part of BIS’s broader enforcement of U.S. export controls, particularly on items that may pose risks to national security.
Source: BIS Imposes $500,000 Mitigated Penalty Against GlobalFoundries For 74 Shipments to Entity Listed Chinese Firm
