Wisconsin Rep. Mike Gallagher, who is also the Chairman of the Select Committee on the Chinese Communist Party, joined forces with Illinois Rep. Raja Krishnamoorthi, the Ranking Member of the Select Committee on the CCP, to emphasize the need for enhanced restrictions on the export of American equipment, including AI chips, to China. In a letter addressed to Secretary Gina Raimondo, the lawmakers emphasized the critical importance of ensuring the U.S. military sustains a technological advantage over its adversaries.
"If we want to win the long-term competition with the Chinese Communist Party, it makes no sense to immediately ship our breakthroughs in critical technologies over to China. Our export controls must keep pace with our rapid innovation," Gallagher said in the letter.
Krishnamoorthi added, "[t]he October 7, 2022, export controls were a great first step but should now be strengthened to prevent clever PRC engineering, or creative K Street lawyering, from undermining the intended effects of these rules," according to the letter.
In October of last year, regulations were put in place concerning U.S. chips to prevent the People's Republic of China (PRC) from acquiring them. These rules specifically limited access to "advanced computing chips, supercomputers and advanced semiconductors." The restrictions were implemented due to concerns the PRC might exploit such chips for military purposes and technological advancement, according to a news release from the Bureau of Industry and Security.
"This landmark rule marked a critical step to ensuring U.S. technological leadership and that the U.S. military maintains a technological edge over the People’s Liberation Army, the armed wing of the Chinese Communist Party," the lawmakers said in their letter. "In this vein, we urge you to even further strengthen the October 7, 2022, rule so that advanced U.S. technology and expertise related to advanced computing and semiconductors are not used against the United States."
While the rules implemented in October served as an initial step, lawmakers are now pressing for more stringent restrictions due to suspicions the PRC found ways to circumvent the previously imposed limitations. In their letter to Secretary Raimondo, the lawmakers requested a reduction in the bidirectional transfer rate threshold for advanced computers to 600 Gbyte/s, and implementation of additional measures that would prevent the PRC from using cloud computing services as a means to outsource their advanced computing requirements without adhering to the prescribed restrictions, according to the release.
"The Oct. 7 rule was an important step to ensure we are not fueling CCP military advancement and authoritarian actions. Moving forward, we need to make sure that any loopholes are closed so these common-sense, bipartisan actions can be successful," Krishnamoorthi said in the release. "I look forward to continue working with Chairman Gallagher to support the Biden administration’s efforts to maintain our competitiveness and ensure American innovation is not used for the CCP’s malign purposes."
