Lawmakers from both sides of the aisle are calling on the U.S. government to tighten the rules on technology exports. On Tuesday, leaders from key House committees urged the State and Commerce Departments to stop China from buying advanced equipment used to make computer chips. They warned that current gaps in trade rules are putting national security in danger.
John Moolenaar and Brian Mast, who chair major committees focused on China and foreign affairs, wrote a bipartisan letter to Secretary of State Marco Rubio and Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick. In the letter, they asked the administration to work with allies to create broad, countrywide bans. They want to block China from getting any chipmaking tools or components that it cannot build on its own.
The lawmakers also want to stop companies from servicing or repairing the machines that China already has in its factories. Without regular maintenance, these complex tools eventually stop working. The group argued that cutting off these services is a vital step in slowing down China’s tech progress.
This push comes because China is quickly buying up foreign equipment to catch up with the West. Despite U.S. efforts to block them, Chinese scientists recently built a prototype machine that mimics the highly advanced “EUV” tools made by the Dutch firm ASML. These machines provide the only way to build the world’s most powerful chips, which run everything from artificial intelligence to high-tech military weapons.
While China still struggles to manufacture the most precise parts of these machines, lawmakers worry that the window to stop them is closing. They have asked President Donald Trump’s administration to provide a briefing within the next month. They want to see a clear strategy on how the U.S. will get other countries to cooperate and help secure the global supply chain.
Other members of the House, including Gregory Meeks, also signed the letter. They believe that unless the U.S. acts fast to close these loopholes, China will continue to import the technology it needs to build its own advanced semiconductor industry.
