Green Bay Reporter

Wisconsin Rep. Mike Gallagher (R-WI), who chairs the Select Committee on the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) recently penned a letter with Illinois Rep. Raja Krishnamoorthi, who is the Ranking Member of the Select Committee on the CCP, to emphasize the need to have enhanced restrictions on exporting American semiconductors and equipment like artificial intelligence (AI) models to China. According to a release by the Select Committee on the CCP, the letter was addressed to Secretary of Commerce Gina Raimondo urging her to ensure that the U.S. Military has a technological advantage over adversaries. 

"If we want to win the long-term competition with the Chinese Communist Party, it makes no sense to immediately ship our breakthroughs in critical technologies over to China," Gallagher said in the letter. "Our export controls must keep pace with our rapid innovation. The October 7, 2022 export controls were a great first step but should now be strengthened to prevent clever PRC engineering, or creative K Street lawyering, from undermining the intended effects of these rules.

According to a press release by the Bureau of Industry Security of the U.S. Department of Commerce.On October 7 of last year, regulations were put in place concerning U.S. chips to prevent the People's Republic of China (PRC) from acquiring them. These rules specifically limited access to advanced computing chips, supercomputers, and advanced semiconductors. The restrictions were implemented due to concerns that the PRC might exploit such chips for military purposes and technological advancement.

"This landmark rule marked a critical step to ensuring U.S. technological leadership and that the U.S. military maintains a technological edge over the People’s Liberation Army, the armed wing of the Chinese Communist Party," said the lawmakers in their letter, according to a press release by the Select Committee on the CCP. "In this vein, we urge you to even further strengthen the October 7, 2022 rule so that advanced U.S. technology and expertise related to advanced computing and semiconductors are not used against the United States."

While the rules implemented in October served as an initial step, lawmakers are now pressing for more stringent restrictions due to suspicions that the People's Republic of China (PRC) has found ways to circumvent the previously imposed limitations. In their letter to Secretary Raimondo, the lawmakers have requested a reduction in the bidirectional transfer rate threshold for advanced computers to 600 Gbyte/s, and implementation of additional measures that would prevent the PRC from using cloud computing services as a means to outsource their advanced computing requirements without adhering to the prescribed restrictions, according to a press release.

"The October 7th rule was an important step to ensure we are not fueling CCP military advancement and authoritarian actions. Moving forward, we need to make sure that any loopholes are closed so these common-sense, bipartisan actions can be successful," said Krishnamoorthi, according to a press release by the Select Committee on the CCP. "I look forward to continue 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."