Representative John Moolenaar, chair of the House Select Committee on China, officially urged the Trump administration this Thursday to strictly prohibit chip manufacturers from supplying advanced logic chips to untrusted Chinese entities, citing critical national security risks.
Closing the Loophole on Tech Exports
In January 2025, the Biden administration introduced a mandate requiring chipmakers to rigorously vet orders for advanced semiconductors, specifically targeting firms acting as fronts for restricted Chinese organizations. This regulatory move followed the discovery that chips designed by the Chinese firm Sophgo were being utilized within AI processors sold by Huawei, a company currently under heavy U.S. sanctions.
Policy Uncertainty Under the New Administration
Despite the implementation of these rules, the Trump administration recently signaled it would not enforce a related chip regulation, sparking widespread concern regarding the future of export controls. Moolenaar addressed these fears in a letter to Jeffrey Kessler, the official overseeing export controls at the Commerce Department, labeling the existing measures as essential for maintaining American technological superiority.
Moolenaar warned that if foundries such as TSMC—the world’s leading chip manufacturer—conclude that their products are exempt from current restrictions, the U.S. faces a significant risk of further export control failures similar to the Sophgo-Huawei incident.
Growing Bipartisan Pressure
The internal pressure from within the Republican party is mounting. This private correspondence highlights a growing divide between some GOP lawmakers and the Trump administration’s perceived leniency toward semiconductor trade with China.
Legislative scrutiny has intensified throughout the year. In June, Senator Jim Banks spearheaded a call to tighten contract manufacturing rules to prevent the production of advanced AI chips for Chinese subsidiaries. Furthermore, Representative Bill Huizenga recently confronted Kessler over these same vulnerabilities, while the administration’s decision to permit Nvidia to sell advanced AI hardware to China has ignited harsh criticism from both sides of the aisle.
To date, the Department of Commerce, Huawei, Sophgo, and TSMC have declined to provide comments regarding these developments.