A senior US Republican lawmaker has urged the Donald Trump administration to enforce stricter controls on advanced semiconductor shipments to China, warning that loopholes could allow Chinese companies to gain access to high-end chips critical to artificial intelligence and military technologies.John Moolenaar, who chairs the House Select Committee on China, called on the Commerce Department to ensure that chip manufacturers do not supply advanced logic chips to untrusted Chinese firms or entities acting as their fronts.In a letter to Jeffrey Kessler, who oversees export controls at the Commerce Department, Moolenaar described the Biden-era manufacturer rule as a “critical step” to prevent China from accessing high-end US chips and protect America’s technological edge, news agency Reuters reported.The rule, introduced by the Biden administration in January 2025, requires chip manufacturers to scrutinise orders for advanced chips from companies that could be supplying or acting on behalf of restricted entities in China and other countries.The measure followed revelations involving Chinese chip designer Sophgo, whose chips manufactured by Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC) were later found inside AI processors marketed by Huawei. Huawei has been under extensive US sanctions.Moolenaar said the manufacturer rule was designed to close the loophole exploited by Huawei and Sophgo.He warned that if major chip manufacturers such as TSMC conclude that their products fall outside the scope of the rules, it could significantly increase the risk of another similar export-control failure.The Republican lawmaker’s intervention comes amid rising congressional concern over the Trump administration’s approach to semiconductor exports to China.Soon after taking office, the administration said it did not plan to enforce another Biden-era chip regulation referenced in the manufacturer rule, adding uncertainty over how aggressively the rules would be applied.The pressure is also extending to China’s memory-chip industry.
US firms urged to avoid Chinese memory chips
Moolenaar and Democratic Representative George Whitesides have separately urged the administration to prevent US companies from buying memory chips from Chinese manufacturers ChangXin Memory Technologies (CXMT) and Yangtze Memory Technologies Corp (YMTC).In a letter to Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick, the lawmakers warned that dependence on Chinese chips would create “an unacceptable risk for US national security, economic security and supply chain security”, the Financial Times reported.CXMT makes DRAM chips, while YMTC specialises in NAND flash memory used in smartphones, computers and data centres.Both companies were established as part of China’s effort to reduce its dependence on foreign semiconductor suppliers.The US has already restricted their access to advanced semiconductor manufacturing equipment. CXMT is also on the Pentagon’s Chinese Military Companies list, while YMTC is on the Commerce Department’s Entity List.The latest congressional push reflects broader bipartisan concern in Washington over Chinese access to advanced semiconductor technology, including the Trump administration’s decision to allow Nvidia to resume sales of certain advanced AI chips to China.
