Trump pauses export controls to bolster effort to secure China trade deal, FT says
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The industry and security bureau of the Commerce Department, which oversees export controls, has been told to avoid tough moves on China.
PHOTO: REUTERS
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WASHINGTON - The US has paused curbs on tech exports to China to avoid disrupting trade talks with Beijing and support US President Donald Trump’s efforts to secure a meeting with Chinese President Xi Jinping in 2025, the Financial Times said on July 28.
The industry and security bureau of the US Commerce Department, which oversees export controls, has been told in recent months to avoid tough moves on China, the newspaper said, citing current and former officials.
Reuters could not immediately verify the report. The White House and the department did not respond to Reuters’ requests for comment outside business hours.
Top US and Chinese economic officials are set to resume talks in Stockholm on July 28 to tackle longstanding economic disputes at the centre of a trade war between the world’s top two economies.
Tech giant Nvidia said in July that it would resume sales of its H20 graphics processing units to China, reversing an export curb the Trump administration imposed in April to keep advanced artificial intelligence chips out of Chinese hands over national security concerns.
The planned resumption was part of US negotiations on rare earths and magnets, Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick has said.
The paper said 20 security experts and former officials, including the US’ former deputy national security adviser Matt Pottinger, will write on July 28 to Mr Lutnick to voice concern.
“This move represents a strategic misstep that endangers the United States’ economic and military edge in artificial intelligence,” they write in the letter, it added. REUTERS
