Rep. John Moolenaar on April 30. Photo: Tasos Katopodis/Getty Images for 137 Ventures/Founders Fund/Jacob Helberg
House China Select Committee Chair John Moolenaar chatted with Axios on his plans for targeting DeepSeek and enforcing the TikTok ban.
Why it matters: Washington is unified on beating China on all sorts of fronts, including tech, and Moolenaar sits atop the panel aiming to shape policy on how to do that.
This conversation has been edited and condensed for clarity.
A recent report from the committee says DeepSeek is funneling Americans' data to the Chinese government and using stolen U.S. tech. Should Congress move to ban PRC-linked AI apps the same way it targeted TikTok?
I think that definitely is in a very similar situation. One of the main differences, though, is that DeepSeek actually acknowledges storing Americans' data in China, that that's how they would operate.
- ByteDance would always maintain that there was this firewall and that they wouldn't do that.
- DeepSeek is very open about that, and so I think definitely it falls into a similar category of national security, protecting data and transparency about that.
Do you have plans to introduce legislation to ban DeepSeek?
Right now my focus is the TikTok legislation, something we want to see enforced.
- We'd like to see a deal there, and the Trump administration is working on putting together a deal. I think that will establish an important framework.
- The courts have ruled on different aspects of this. It will guide us in terms of future legislation that would cover DeepSeek and other apps that would be a threat.
- We want to make sure that we're clear and consistent on these regulations and policy because this is a new era and we want to make sure we get it right.
How confident are you that on June 19, after the end of this second 75-day pause, there will be a deal? And can you describe any conversations with the administration on negotiations that you might have had?
The vice president is working on this. We've talked to a number of people who would like to buy TikTok.
- But I think it's important that we follow the law, that we have a divestiture of TikTok from ByteDance, and I'm hopeful that the administration will continue to make progress.
- Obviously, China is in the driver's seat in terms of whether they will accept a deal or not.
- Right now, you know, it kind of demonstrates how the Chinese Communist Party dictates to the private sector what they can and can't do.
Do you, as a leader on this issue in Congress, have a plan to try to enforce this law if on June 19 you see that there is no deal?
I believe they are acting in good faith. I'm less concerned about the exact day that this happens than I am about making sure that we accomplish the objectives of getting the Chinese Communist Party out of TikTok.
- The goal is to make TikTok continue to be available to the American people, but not leveraged by the Chinese Communist Party.
In the DeepSeek report, you recommend expanding export controls. How can an updated diffusion rule achieve that?
I think it's important that we do have strong guardrails.
- But we also recognize we want to partner with our allies to continue to lead in innovation so that the free world — through trade policies, through technology agreements, sort of like a USMCA if you will, for like minded countries — will secure these technologies.
- That's the direction we should be going and I think the White House is working towards that.
