Beijing last week said it’s seeing the U.S. approve exports of Nvidia H20 chips to China and urged the Trump administration to roll back other restrictions against the country.
More than six months into President Donald Trump’s second term, the new administration’s plan for export controls on both semiconductors and chip manufacturing equipment remains unclear, industry officials and a congressional adviser said last week. They all said they hope any new controls are calibrated with allies.
Rep. Sydney Kamlager-Dove, D-Calif., the ranking member of the House Foreign Affairs Subcommittee on South and Central Asia, introduced a bill July 17 that would require the Bureau of Industry and Security to increase the number of export control officers stationed in foreign countries to at least 20, up from 11 today.
The Senate Appropriations Committee voted 19-10 July 17 to approve an FY 2026 Commerce-Justice-Science appropriations bill that would provide $211 million for the Bureau of Industry and Security, up $20 million or 10.5% from the FY 2025 enacted level but well below the 59% increase the agency was seeking.
A bill to mandate location-tracking mechanisms for exports of advanced chips was panned this week by technology policy experts who said the requirement would be tricky to implement and could push foreign customers to stop trusting American-made semiconductors. They also said Congress should be more focused on boosting the Bureau of Industry and Security budget to help the agency step up enforcement.
The Trump administration’s decision to approve exports of advanced Nvidia chips to China could backfire on the U.S. the next time it tries to convince allies to restrict their advanced technology shipments to China, Divyansh Kaushik of Beacon Global Strategies said.
A House Appropriations subcommittee July 15 approved an FY 2026 Commerce-Justice-Science appropriations bill that would provide $303 million for the Bureau of Industry and Security, up 59% from the FY 2025 enacted level (see 2507140024). The legislation now heads to the full Appropriations Committee for its consideration.
The Bureau of Industry and Security has completed an interagency review of its rule that will formally rescind the Biden-era AI diffusion rule (see 2505070039). The agency sent the final rule for interagency review May 7 (see 2505080026), and it was completed July 10.
The Bureau of Industry and Security’s latest export control enforcement action against a semiconductor firm shows the agency may be preparing to target companies that flout its high probability standard, a trade lawyer and industry consultant said.
The House Appropriations Committee released an FY 2026 Commerce-Justice-Science appropriations bill July 14 that would provide $303 million for the Bureau of Industry and Security, up $112 million or 59% from the FY 2025 enacted level.