The recent introduction of several bills to restrict foreign sales of computing chips shows that lawmakers are eager to legislate on the issue but haven't yet reached agreement on how to do so, Morgan Lewis trade lawyer Mike Huneke said in an interview.
House Foreign Affairs Committee Chairman Brian Mast, R-Fla., led six other House Republicans in introducing a bill Dec. 18 that would increase congressional oversight of exports of advanced AI chips to China and other “countries of concern.”
House Foreign Affairs Committee ranking member Gregory Meeks, D-N.Y., led 13 other House Democrats in introducing a bill Dec. 18 that would block the sale of advanced AI chips to China and other U.S. arms embargoed countries.
Sens. Pete Ricketts, R-Neb., and Chris Coons, D-Del., announced Dec. 4 that they have introduced a bill to codify into law the Trump administration’s current limits on what advanced AI chips can be sold to China and other foreign “adversaries.”
Rep. Julie Johnson, D-Texas, and Del. James Moylan, R-Guam, announced Dec. 3 that they have introduced a bill aimed at protecting whistleblowers who report defense export control violations.
The U.S. should maintain and strengthen export restrictions on advanced chips and semiconductor manufacturing equipment to preserve its edge over China in AI, a panel of experts told lawmakers Dec. 2.
Sens. Mike Rounds, R-S.D., and Mark Warner, D-Va., introduced a bill April 10 aimed at preventing the smuggling of U.S. artificial intelligence chips into China.
The Bureau of Industry and Security fined multinational chip maker GlobalFoundries $500,000 after it illegally exported semiconductor wafers to a Entity Listed firm with ties to Semiconductor Manufacturing International Corp. (SMIC), China’s flagship chip manufacturing company.
Nazak Nikakhtar, acting head of the Bureau of Industry and Security during the Trump administration, blamed the deep state for a lack of urgency in confronting China, during a podcast interview with China Talk. Nikakhtar did not use that term, but said that it was hard for Commerce Department career officials to shift their thinking from promoting exports of goods to restricting exports or investment. Nikakhtar was previously a civil servant herself, working on antidumping and countervailing duty cases and negotiations with China.
Recently issued guidelines by the White House’s Office of Science Technology Policy could raise export compliance stakes for universities and research institutions, law firms said, especially for researchers that receive semiconductor-related federal funding under the Chips Act.