Comment The world's port operators do not care (Score 1) 51
The vast majority of the ports in the world do not care if a container debarks one ship and eventually embarks on another without going through their customers and entering their country. There are major world ports that are considered "hubs" just like airports for people. 85% of the containers that arrive in Singapore for instance are transshipped.
It is extremely difficult once a container has left one port to know where it is really going to wind up. The logistics databases can be updated after a container has left one port and none of the top 6 companies managing the flow of the world's containers are U.S. corporations.
There are even businesses in 3rd world countries that all they do is completely unpackage and re-package the contents of shipping containers to eliminate the possibility of hidden tracking devices.
Even if the magical tech envisioned in the Chip Security Act worked, all it would tell us is what we already know, that boards and chips are winding up in places the U.S. government declared that they should not. If we can't stop specialized gas centrifuge components from getting into Iran, we aren't going to be able to keep commodity chips from getting into China.
It is extremely difficult once a container has left one port to know where it is really going to wind up. The logistics databases can be updated after a container has left one port and none of the top 6 companies managing the flow of the world's containers are U.S. corporations.
There are even businesses in 3rd world countries that all they do is completely unpackage and re-package the contents of shipping containers to eliminate the possibility of hidden tracking devices.
Even if the magical tech envisioned in the Chip Security Act worked, all it would tell us is what we already know, that boards and chips are winding up in places the U.S. government declared that they should not. If we can't stop specialized gas centrifuge components from getting into Iran, we aren't going to be able to keep commodity chips from getting into China.