Michigan Rep. Haley Stevens has expressed support for the Biden Administration's efforts to protect American semiconductors from falling into the hands of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP). Stevens commended the administration's "commonsense framework" aimed at safeguarding American interests while promoting the domestic production of advanced semiconductors.
"I applaud the Biden Administration's commonsense framework ensuring we’re protecting American interests as we build advanced semiconductors here in the U.S.," Stevens said. "These rules are a critical step to make sure American products made with American know-how don’t advance the CCP’s agenda."
The need for such measures became apparent last year when regulations were implemented to restrict the acquisition of U.S. chips by the People's Republic of China (PRC). These restrictions targeted "advanced computing chips, supercomputers, and advanced semiconductors" and were intended to prevent the PRC from exploiting these technologies for military purposes and technological advancement.
In response to the previous regulations, lawmakers have been advocating for additional restrictions, specifically aimed at closing loopholes that could potentially be exploited. The proposed restrictions are expected to include advanced data center AI chips, which are currently not covered by the regulations. This expansion would block Chinese companies' access to American artificial intelligence chips through their overseas subsidiaries. Reuters reports that these new measures could be implemented as early as this week.
"The October 7th rule was an important step to ensure we are not fueling CCP military advancement and authoritarian actions," said Raja Krishnamoorthi, Ranking Member of the Select Committee on the Chinese Communist Party. "Moving forward, we need to make sure that any loopholes are closed so these common-sense, bipartisan actions can be successful. I look forward to continuing 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."
Chairman of the Select Committee on the CCP, Mike Gallagher, echoed the sentiment, emphasizing the importance of keeping American breakthroughs in critical technologies from being immediately shipped to China. He highlighted the need for export controls to keep pace with rapid innovation and called for the strengthening of the October 7, 2022 export controls to prevent any attempts by the PRC to undermine their intended effects.
The ongoing efforts to protect American semiconductors reflect the Biden Administration's commitment to maintaining national security and economic competitiveness in the face of growing technological competition with China.
