BIS Seeks Comments On Drone, Polysilicon Probes

The U.S. Department of Commerce is accepting public input on its national security investigations into unmanned aircraft systems (UAS) and polysilicon imports between July 16 and August 6, 2025.

Commerce's Bureau of Industry and Security kicked off both probes on July 1, adding them to a laundry list of ongoing investigations under Section 232 of the Trade Expansion Act of 1962. The other national security investigations are assessing risks related to imports of copper, timber and lumber, semiconductors and chip manufacturing equipment, pharmaceuticals, trucks, critical minerals and commercial aircraft.

The UAS probe covers drones and component parts. The polysilicon investigation includes the purified silicon and its derivatives.

Along with questions about the economic impact of foreign-made drones on domestic manufacturers, BIS is also particularly interested in "the potential for foreign nations and companies to weaponize the capabilities or attributes of foreign-built UAS systems and their parts or components," among other concerns, according to the notice published in the Federal Register on Wednesday. 

For polysilicon, BIS' prompts all related directly to demand and supply chains, including "the potential for export restrictions by foreign nations, including the ability of foreign nations to weaponize their control over supplies of polysilicon and its derivatives."

Polysilicon is critical to the manufacture of both solar cells and semiconductors, and China now produces more than 93% of the available supply, according to industry analysis by Bernreuter Research. The U.S. Department of Labor estimates that 45% of solar-grade polysilicon comes from China's Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region, the region whose exports are banned from entering the U.S. under the Uyghur Forced Labor Prevention Act.

The U.S. has two active polysilicon production sites. German outfit Wacker Chemie's plant in Tennessee has been operational since 2016, while Hemlock Semiconductor in Hemlock, Mich., co-owned by Corning Inc. and Shin-Etsu Handotai,  dates back to 1961. Another, beleaguered REC Silicon, shut down for a second time in January.

Interested parties should submit comments through Regulations.gov citing  docket number BIS-2025-0059 for drones and BIS-2025-0028 for polysilicon.