AI trade rules for importers and exporters in 2026

Which trade rules apply to AI chips, systems, and models in 2026?

A company that moves AI hardware, models, or AI-enabled products across borders answers to export controls where the item is subject to US jurisdiction, import duties where it lands, China’s controls where Chinese inputs are involved, and, in the EU, product rules for high-risk AI. As of October 2026, the binding US rules on AI chips sit in the Export Administration Regulations (EAR) and in a Section 232 tariff proclamation. Much of BIS’s day-to-day enforcement position, though, comes from guidance documents and announcements. They do not amend the EAR text, but they state how BIS reads and enforces it. GAO has found that one of them, the May 2025 announcement that BIS would not enforce the AI Diffusion rule, is itself a rule for Congressional Review Act purposes (see the model weights section below).

Where a company lands in the table depends on the item’s classification (ECCN and HTSUS code), on where the end user and its parent company are headquartered, and on whether it places AI systems on the EU market. The AI compliance guide covers the wider program. The EU AI Act guide covers provider and deployer duties.

Trade and AI rules that reach importers and exporters, as of October 2026

Rule	Who enforces	Applies when	Status and key date
EAR controls on advanced computing items (ECCNs 3A090, 4A090, and .z items such as 5A992.z servers)	Bureau of Industry and Security (BIS)	You export, reexport, or transfer advanced computing chips or computers and servers that contain them	In force. BIS enforces the license requirement for destinations in Country Groups D:1, D:4, and D:5 (except those also in A:5 or A:6) and for D:5- or Macau-headquartered entities anywhere (guidance of May 13, 2025 and May 31, 2026)
Framework for AI Diffusion, including ECCN 4E091 model weights	BIS	You export the weights of a closed-weight model trained on more than 10²⁶ operations, or rely on the rule’s worldwide licensing framework for advanced chips	Interim final rule effective January 13, 2025; BIS stopped enforcing it May 13, 2025. Still in the Code of Federal Regulations; a rescission rule is on BIS’s 2026 agenda but unpublished as of October 21, 2026
License review policy for H200-class chips to China	BIS	You export from the United States to an end user in China or Macau a chip with TPP below 21,000 and DRAM bandwidth below 6,500 GB/s	Case-by-case review since January 15, 2026, if certifications are met; presumption of denial for D:5- or Macau-headquartered end users elsewhere
General Prohibition 10 guidance on PRC advanced chips	BIS	You buy, use, service, or finance 3A090-level chips developed or produced by companies located or headquartered in D:5 or Macau, or whose ultimate parent is headquartered there, such as Huawei Ascend 910B, 910C, and 910D	Guidance issued May 13, 2025, applying the existing General Prohibition 10 (15 CFR 736.2(b)(10)) to these chips
Affiliates rule (50 percent ownership)	BIS	Your counterparty is at least 50 percent owned by Entity List parties, listed military end users, or certain sanctioned parties	Interim final rule effective September 29, 2025; stayed until November 9, 2026, absent an extension. MOFCOM said on September 28, 2026 that the Kuala Lumpur arrangement will be extended to January 10, 2027; no BIS extension published as of October 21, 2026
UAE favorable treatment rule	BIS	You ship advanced computing items to or within the UAE	Effective July 10, 2026; license-free only when the ultimate consignee and all end users are UAE Government entities or approved entities listed in supplement no. 8 to part 740
Section 232 semiconductor tariff (Proclamation 11002)	CBP; Commerce	You import covered logic chips, or articles containing them, under HTSUS 8471.50, 8471.80, or 8473.30 that meet the performance parameters	25 percent from January 15, 2026, unless an end-use exclusion applies; no modifying proclamation in the Federal Register as of October 21, 2026
Executive Order 14320 (American AI Exports Program)	Commerce (International Trade Administration)	An industry-led consortium proposes a full-stack AI export package	Signed July 23, 2025; voluntary. The pre-set consortia proposal window ran April 1 to June 30, 2026
China’s export controls on rare earths and related items	China Ministry of Commerce (MOFCOM); China Customs	Your supply chain uses Chinese-origin rare earths, gallium, germanium, antimony, superhard materials, or graphite	October 2025 measures, including Announcement 61, suspended until November 10, 2026 (MOFCOM said on September 28, 2026 that the arrangement will be extended to January 10, 2027; no implementing announcement as of October 21, 2026); the US-specific ban in Announcement 46 of 2024 suspended until November 27, 2026. The April 2025 controls on seven medium and heavy rare earths (Announcement 18 of 2025) were not suspended
EU AI Act, Articles 23 to 25	National market surveillance authorities	You are an EU importer or distributor of a high-risk AI system	Duties apply December 2, 2027 for Annex III systems and August 2, 2028 for AI in Annex I regulated products
EU Dual-Use Regulation (EU) 2021/821	Member state licensing authorities	You export listed dual-use items, including advanced computing chips, from the EU, or an unlisted item is caught by an end-use control	Annex I updated by Delegated Regulation (EU) 2025/2003, in force November 15, 2025; a further update adopted September 14, 2026 enters into force when published in the Official Journal after the usual two-month scrutiny period
Reasonable care (19 U.S.C. 1484)	U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP)	You are the importer of record, whoever or whatever prepares the entry	In force
OFAC sanctions programs	Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC)	A US person deals with a sanctioned party or jurisdiction	In force; compliance framework published May 2019

Do US export controls still restrict AI chips now that BIS is not enforcing the AI Diffusion rule?

Yes. BIS stopped enforcing the January 2025 AI Diffusion rule on May 13, 2025, but it kept enforcing the license requirements that existed before it. In its July 2026 UAE rule, BIS stated that although the EAR text sets a worldwide license requirement for 3A090.a, 4A090.a, and related .z items, it enforces that requirement only for destinations in Country Groups D:1, D:4, or D:5 (excluding those also in A:5 or A:6) and for entities headquartered in, or with an ultimate parent headquartered in, D:5 or Macau, wherever located.

The headquarters test is the detail exporters miss. BIS guidance of May 31, 2026 says this license requirement dates from November 2023 and still applies in every destination outside the United States, unless a license exception specified in 15 CFR 740.2(a)(9)(ii) is available. An export of advanced computing items to a European or Southeast Asian data center run by a subsidiary of a D:5- or Macau-headquartered company therefore needs a license. BIS added that bona fide data center operators otherwise acting consistently with the EAR need not stop the ongoing use, storage, disposal, or servicing of advanced computing items because of the guidance, until further notice from BIS.

Two country-specific changes followed. Since January 15, 2026, BIS reviews license applications case by case, instead of presuming denial, for exports from the United States to end users in China or Macau of chips with a TPP below 21,000 and DRAM bandwidth below 6,500 GB/s, such as the NVIDIA H200 or AMD MI325X. The chip must be commercially available in the United States, and the applicant must certify, among other things, that there is sufficient US supply, that the exports will not divert foundry capacity needed for US end users, that shipments to China and Macau will not exceed 50 percent of the product’s shipments to US end-use customers, that the ultimate consignee will use rigorous KYC procedures, and that every shipment will be reviewed by a qualified third-party testing lab in the United States before export.

The UAE rule helps a short list of buyers. Since July 10, 2026, advanced computing items can go to or within the UAE without a license when the ultimate consignee and all end users are UAE Government entities or approved entities listed in supplement no. 8 to part 740 as approved to receive such items license-free, including listed US-headquartered AI companies and their UAE subsidiaries. Any other UAE transaction still needs one, and approval does not override the end-use and end-user license requirements in part 744 of the EAR.

Are AI model weights export-controlled?

On paper, some are; in practice, BIS is not enforcing that control. The AI Diffusion rule created ECCN 4E091, requiring a license to export the weights of any closed-weight model trained on more than 10²⁶ computational operations; it did not control published (open) weights.

On May 12, 2026, the Government Accountability Office decided that BIS’s May 2025 non-enforcement announcement is a rule under the Congressional Review Act, which must be submitted to Congress and the Comptroller General before it can take effect. GAO stated that the Diffusion rule remains legally in effect until Commerce completes its planned rulemaking to rescind it, and that, as Commerce explained, it remains in the Code of Federal Regulations until then. BIS’s regulatory plan, published August 14, 2026, lists an interim final rule to formally rescind the Diffusion rule and set a replacement framework; none had been published as of October 21, 2026. Until one is, a transfer of closed-weight model weights abroad is an open legal question, and counsel should see it before it happens.

Model training can trigger a license even without 4E091. BIS guidance of May 13, 2025 says that exporting advanced chips to a cloud or data center provider may require a license under the part 744 catch-all controls. The trigger is knowledge that the chips will train models for parties headquartered in D:5 or Macau where that supports weapons of mass destruction or military-intelligence end uses.

What diversion and counterparty checks does BIS expect?

BIS expects you to know who ultimately owns your customer and where the chips will run. Its May 13, 2025 diversion guidance lists 11 red flags, including a customer that never received advanced chip exports before October 2022, an unknown installation address, a data center that cannot affirm it has the power, cooling, and space to run the servers, and a cloud customer that cannot affirm its users are not headquartered in China.

The same guidance lists due diligence steps for new customers and cloud providers, especially those outside Country Group A:1: check incorporation dates and ownership, obtain end-user certifications, get a written attestation from the data center, and give extra scrutiny to data centers able to run more than 10 megawatts of servers with advanced chips. Separate guidance warns that buying, using, or servicing PRC-designed 3A090-level chips, such as the Huawei Ascend 910B, 910C, and 910D, may violate General Prohibition 10. The guidance tells a buyer to confirm with its supplier that the required BIS authorization exists.

The ownership rule is paused, and the pause has an end date. BIS’s affiliates rule makes any entity at least 50 percent owned by one or more Entity List parties subject to the same restrictions. BIS stayed it on November 10, 2025, until November 9, 2026, absent an extension. MOFCOM said on September 28, 2026 that the two governments had agreed to extend the October 2025 Kuala Lumpur arrangement, under which each side suspended certain measures, to January 10, 2027, but BIS had not published an extension of the stay as of October 21, 2026. Separately, BIS removed Intel Semiconductor (Dalian) Ltd, Samsung China Semiconductor Co. Ltd, and SK hynix Semiconductor (China) Ltd from the validated end-user list effective December 31, 2025.

What tariffs apply to imported AI chips?

A 25 percent Section 232 duty applies to a narrow set of advanced logic chips, and to articles containing them, entered on or after January 15, 2026, unless an end-use exclusion applies. CBP’s guidance limits coverage to HTSUS 8471.50, 8471.80, and 8473.30 goods that meet two performance bands, one with TPP above 14,000 and below 17,500 and one above 20,800 and below 21,100, each paired with a DRAM bandwidth range.

The exclusions cover use in US data centers, repairs or replacements in the United States, research and development in the United States, use by startups, non-data center consumer and civil industrial applications in the United States, US public sector applications, and other uses the Secretary of Commerce determines strengthen the US technology supply chain or domestic manufacturing capacity. CBP’s guidance defines a data center for this purpose as a facility requiring more than 100 megawatts of new load dedicated to AI inference, training, simulation, or synthetic data generation. No drawback is allowed, and covered goods entering a foreign trade zone must take privileged foreign status. Proclamation 11002 also says the President may consider significant broader semiconductor tariffs depending on the outcome of trade negotiations; none had been proclaimed as of October 21, 2026.

How do China’s export controls affect AI hardware supply chains?

Most of China’s October 2025 measures are suspended, not withdrawn. MOFCOM Announcement 61 of 2025 would require a Chinese license to export from outside China certain foreign-made items containing 0.1 percent or more by value of listed Chinese-origin rare earth materials. The listed items are samarium-cobalt magnets, neodymium magnets containing terbium or dysprosium, parts, components, and assemblies containing those magnets, and certain rare earth sputtering targets. China would also review case by case export applications whose end use is research, development, or production of logic chips at 14 nanometers and below or memory chips of 256 layers and above, or of equipment and materials for making them, or research and development of AI with potential military uses.

Announcement 70 suspended Announcement 61, with five related announcements, until November 10, 2026. On September 28, 2026, MOFCOM said the two governments had agreed to extend the October 2025 Kuala Lumpur arrangement, which set that date, to January 10, 2027; as of October 21, 2026, MOFCOM had not published an announcement changing the suspension date. Announcement 70 did not suspend China’s April 2025 licensing requirement for seven medium and heavy rare earths, including samarium, terbium, and dysprosium (Announcement 18 of 2025).

Announcement 72 suspended, until November 27, 2026, the paragraph of Announcement 46 of 2024 that in principle barred exports to the United States of gallium, germanium, antimony, and superhard materials and required stricter review of graphite exports. The paragraph banning dual-use exports to US military users or uses was not suspended. MOFCOM’s September 28, 2026 statement does not mention Announcement 72 or the November 27 date. Plan contracts and inventory around the published end dates, and check MOFCOM for implementing announcements.

What does the EU AI Act require of importers and distributors?

Under the AI Act, an importer is an EU-established company that places on the market an AI system bearing a non-EU company’s name or trademark. Before it places a high-risk system on the market, it must check that the system has passed conformity assessment, has technical documentation, carries the CE marking, comes with the EU declaration of conformity and instructions for use, and has an authorized representative (Article 23). It must label the system with its own name and contact address, keep the certificate, instructions, and declaration for 10 years, and withhold a system it has reason to believe does not conform.

A distributor must check the CE marking, declaration, and instructions, and that the provider and importer met their duties, and must take corrective action or withdraw a non-conforming system (Article 24). Under Article 25, an importer or distributor that puts its own name or trademark on a high-risk system (unless a contract allocates the obligations otherwise), substantially modifies it so that it remains high-risk, or changes the intended purpose of a system so that it becomes high-risk is treated as the provider. These duties apply when the high-risk rules apply: December 2, 2027 for stand-alone Annex III systems and August 2, 2028 for AI in Annex I regulated products, under Regulation (EU) 2026/1744.

Does the EU dual-use regulation reach AI items?

It reaches listed goods, software, and technology, including advanced computing chips. Regulation (EU) 2021/821 controls the export, transit, brokering, and technical assistance of listed dual-use items, and its end-use controls can catch unlisted items tied to weapons of mass destruction or human rights violations. The Commission’s 2025 list update, Delegated Regulation (EU) 2025/2003, added advanced computing integrated circuits and electronic assemblies and semiconductor manufacturing equipment. It entered into force on November 15, 2025, according to Luxembourg’s export control office. On September 14, 2026, the Commission adopted a further update that adds advanced computing integrated circuits and electronic assemblies, such as chips incorporating one or more digital processing units. According to the Commission, it enters into force when published in the Official Journal after the usual two-month scrutiny period.

Who is liable when AI does the classification or screening?

The company is. Under 19 U.S.C. 1484, as CBP’s reasonable care publication explains, the importer of record must use reasonable care to enter, classify, and value merchandise, and a failure can delay release and lead to penalties or, in some cases, criminal referral.

OFAC’s compliance framework names sanctions screening software or filter faults as a root cause of violations, including failures to update lists and to catch alternative spellings, and says the organization is responsible for enhancing its program, including all program-related software. A screening model needs the same testing, list-update checks, and audit trail a rules-based filter does.

What does Executive Order 14320 offer AI exporters?

It offers government support, not regulatory relief. The order directs Commerce to run an American AI Exports Program for industry-led consortia offering full-stack packages (hardware, data pipelines, models, security, and applications). Proposals must comply with US export controls and BIS guidance. Commerce’s April 2026 call for pre-set consortia says designation may bring priority advocacy, licensing review, and financing referrals, but does not guarantee any license approval.

What should a trade team do first?

• Classify every chip, server, and AI system you ship (ECCN and HTSUS), including 5A992.z servers that contain 3A090-level chips
• Screen each customer’s ultimate parent headquarters for D:5 and Macau, not only the ship-to country
• Apply the 11 BIS red flags and get data center attestations and end-user certifications for advanced chip sales outside Country Group A:1
• Map counterparties that are 50 percent or more owned by Entity List parties before November 9, 2026
• Get counsel’s view before transferring closed-weight model weights abroad
• For chip imports, document which Section 232 end-use exclusion applies to each entry
• Inventory Chinese rare earth, gallium, and germanium inputs and plan for November 10 and November 27, 2026
• For EU importers and distributors, build the Article 23 and 24 checklist and a 10-year record file before December 2, 2027
• Test AI classification and screening tools against known answers, log list updates, and keep human sign-off on entries

Where to read more

The EU AI Act guide covers provider and deployer duties and the Digital Omnibus dates. The AI compliance guide covers the US federal picture, and the governance frameworks guide covers NIST and ISO programs that can organize testing of AI classification and screening tools.

This page is general information as of October 2026, not legal advice. Export controls and tariffs on AI items changed often in 2025 and 2026; confirm classifications and license requirements with trade counsel, BIS, or CBP before each shipment.