Trump withdraws nomination of China hawk for key post in US-Sino tech battle

WASHINGTON – US President Donald Trump has withdrawn the nomination of Mr Landon Heid, a China hawk, for a key post in the US-China tech battle, raising questions about whether the move signals a more dovish approach to Beijing.

Mr Trump withdrew Mr Heid’s nomination on Sept 10 for assistant secretary for export administration at the US Department of Commerce, according to Congress.gov.

The President had selected him in February for the post overseeing export controls for national security.

Mr Chris McGuire, an expert on technology and national security who served at the US Department of State until this summer, called the withdrawal “very concerning” on Sept 11.

“Hopefully, this does not signal that the administration plans to further weaken US restrictions on sales of our most advanced technologies to China, but I fear that it does,” Mr McGuire wrote in a social media post on X.

Neither a White House spokesman nor Mr Heid responded to requests for comment.

Mr Heid, who serves on the White House’s National Security Council, was previously on the staff of the House of Representatives’ Select Committee on China, which supported global restrictions on AI chips introduced by the administration of then President Joe Biden and US restrictions on business with Chinese biotech firms.

The Trump administration has said it plans to rescind the global chip curb regulation and in July, reversed an April decision to restrict the sale of AI chips like Nvidia’s H20 to China. REUTERS