According to Bloomberg, former U.S. President Donald Trump's team is working on stricter semiconductor export control measures and pressuring key allies to impose tighter restrictions on China's chip industry. This move signals Trump's intention to continue and expand former President Joe Biden's strategy to curb China's semiconductor technology development if he returns to the White House.
Sources reveal that Trump administration officials recently held talks with Japanese and Dutch authorities to discuss restricting engineers from Tokyo Electron and Dutch company ASML from servicing semiconductor equipment in China. This aligns with the Biden administration's core goal of persuading major allies to follow the U.S. in imposing semiconductor export restrictions, similar to the controls previously placed on American chip equipment manufacturers such as KLA, Lam Research, and Applied Materials.
Beyond these discussions, the U.S. has also initiated preliminary talks on sanctioning specific Chinese companies. Sources indicate that some Trump officials plan to further tighten licensing requirements for Nvidia's chip exports to China, including imposing limits on quantity and type. Following this news, Japanese chip company stocks saw widespread declines, with Tokyo Electron dropping by 4.4%.
The broader objective of the U.S. government is to prevent China from further developing its domestic semiconductor industry, which could enhance its artificial intelligence and military capabilities. The Trump administration appears to be following the Biden administration's policy trajectory while seeking to finalize agreements with allies on unresolved matters.
The White House has yet to comment on these reports, while the Dutch Ministry of Foreign Trade and Japan's Ministry of Economy, Trade, and Industry have also declined to respond.
Due to ongoing personnel changes within key U.S. federal agencies, the implementation of new regulations may take months. It remains uncertain whether U.S. allies will be more cooperative under the new administration. Two senior Biden administration officials revealed that the Biden administration had reached a verbal agreement with the Netherlands to restrict equipment maintenance in China. However, after Trump won the U.S. presidential election, the Dutch stance became more hesitant. Without regular maintenance, semiconductor manufacturing equipment from companies like ASML may struggle to meet the strict requirements of chip production.
Bloomberg also reported that the Trump administration is considering further restricting the sale of Nvidia chips specifically designed for the Chinese market. Several sources noted that some Biden administration National Security Council officials had pushed for stricter measures before leaving office, but then-Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo ultimately did not proceed with them.
Additionally, a so-called "AI regulation" issued in the final week of Biden's term has attracted significant attention. The rule categorizes countries into three tiers and sets maximum thresholds for AI computing power exports to each level. It also establishes mechanisms for companies to verify project security and apply for higher computing limits.
The U.S. AI regulations impact data center construction from Southeast Asia to the Middle East, prompting strong opposition from companies like Nvidia. However, Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang had previously expressed optimism, believing that the Trump administration might adopt a more lenient regulatory approach.
Multiple sources indicate that the U.S. government is seeking to simplify and strengthen its AI regulatory framework, though the specifics are still under discussion. Some officials favor lowering the computing power threshold for exports that do not require a license. Under current U.S. regulations, chipmakers only need to notify the U.S. government before exporting computing power equivalent to 1,700 GPUs to most countries. Some Trump administration officials are reportedly pushing to lower this threshold, thereby expanding the scope of license requirements.
