Exclusive: GOP effort to thwart chip sales to China gains steam
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House China hawks are pressing ahead with efforts to prevent Beijing from accessing sensitive U.S. technology as the Trump administration green-lights chip sales.
Why it matters: Congress is looking to rein in President Trump on chip sales, even as most Republicans avoid public criticism.
Behind the scenes: Republicans are largely toeing the line publicly on the president's decision to allow AI chips to go to China, but that's masking growing unease privately, two sources familiar with the matter told Axios.
- "There were several Republicans and staff in both chambers that weren't happy about the sales," one source told Axios, citing conversations with Republican lawmakers.
- "On the House side I don't think I heard any support for the current policy from the administration on exporting chips."
Driving the news: Reps. Jefferson Shreve (R-Ind.) and Sydney Kamlager-Dove (D-Calif.) on Friday will introduce legislation to strengthen staffing at the Department of Commerce's Bureau of Industry and Security, according to a press release shared first with Axios.
- The BIS STRENGTH Act would authorize Commerce to appoint 25 "highly qualified technical experts and offer competitive compensation, within existing federal pay limits, to attract and retain top-tier talent."
- Shreve has not spoken out against Trump's chips decision.
The big picture: The agency at the heart of export controls is already stretched thin, and processing licenses for Nvidia chip sales to China will intensify the pressure.
- Trump greenlit H200 exports and, unlike the president's previous deal around the H20 chips, China this time is reportedly ready to buy for commercial use.
- "Export controls only work if we have the experts to enforce them," Shreve said in a statement.
- Kamlager-Dove: "The loss of career technical experts at BIS in the last year has significantly undermined BIS's ability to administer the export controls that help safeguard U.S. national security."
Trump last month said the chip sales would happen "under conditions that allow for continued strong National Security," but it's unclear what that means.
- Shreve's spokesperson, Hannah Benfield, said that "we're here to add the manpower needed for the administration to make those informed decisions," referring to the BIS STRENGTH Act.
- The Commerce Department and White House did not respond to requests for comment on how the national security requirements of the licenses would look.
Friction point: Some experts are worried China will use U.S. tech to supercharge its own AI industry.
- The Trump administration argues that the chips being sold are generations behind the latest technology.
Another bill, House Foreign Affairs Committee Chair Brian Mast (R-Fla.)'s AI Overwatch Act, would require the administration to notify lawmakers before exporting AI chips to China and other adversaries, and gives Congress the power to block those exports.
What's next: Lawmakers are looking to build momentum for the export control bills and boost the budget of BIS.
- The House Foreign Affairs Committee is eyeing to mark up Mast's bill later this month, per a senior GOP staffer, and is pitching it as a way for the White House to ensure that chip sales take national security conditions into consideration.
- Congress is moving to boost funding for the export control agency, with BIS set to get $235 million in the latest spending package that lawmakers are considering.
