When it comes to its stance on China, the US is acting steadily to begin export controls to restrict Beijing’s access to advanced technology with a policy over that’s been spanning throughout three presidential administrations, indicating a bipartisan agreement to restrict the proliferation of any China advanced technology.
Washington has, and is, employing export restrictions to slow any China high tech exports progress when it comes to research, particularly key technologies linked to military uses, such as semiconductors and AI – this has been happening for decades.
The limitations have been increasing pressure on economic ties that have been widening the distance between the world’s two largest economies over the past decade.
It all boiled down to this Tuesday when officials from the US and China met in London, to put their differences aside and come up with solutions over trade and export controls which seems to be the biggest issue.
“In eight years of negotiating with the Chinese, I have never had a meeting where they didn’t want to talk about export controls,” US Trade Representative, Jamieson Greer said.
It is not indicated what concessions the officials have made US-China tech decoupling to ease curbs on rare earth metals exports a priority area of concern for Washington. However, the basic framework of US export controls to limit the flow of new tech to China appears to remain largely in place.
Under Trump, China Weighs Export Ban for Rare-Earth Magnet Tech
Since taking office in January, President Trump revoked a comprehensive regulation issued at the end of President Biden’s term that regulated how US made AI chips would be sold to other nations. While Trump officials stated they intend to replace the policy, the details of the new system are unknown.
On the other hand, US authorities have increased efforts to slow down the export of chips to China by America’s top chipmaker, Nvidia. In reaction to export controls established by the Biden administration, Nvidia had relegated one of its chips so that it stayed below performance levels defined by the government.
However, last April, Nvidia company revealed that US officials were requesting a license for future sales of the chips to China a step that forced the trillion-dollar company to write down $5.5 billion in worth of inventory that could not be sold.
In the same month, the House Select Committee on the Chinese Communist Party launched an investigation into Nvidia’s sales of chips in Asia. Members of Congress are investigating whether the company knowingly sold sensitive technology to the Chinese AI startup DeepSeek in breach of US export controls.
Adding fuels to the fire, China’s technological advancements is weighing a rule out on technologies’ export involved in producing rare earth magnets – an important element found in electronics, electric vehicles (EV), and defense equipment – risking augmenting tech war stakes, in light of Beijing role in the global supply chain for strategic material.
Is China More Technologically Advanced Than the US?
Washington has long depended on export controls to limit Beijing’s technological aspirations, basically trying to decapitate China’s access to advanced technology, especially in sensitive areas like AI, which was apparent in the US semiconductor ban China. However, they have not yet prevented China’s progress.
Now, Beijing is considering the imposition of its own export restrictions, most notably through its China rare-earth tech resources that’re crucial for electronics, EV, and military hardware further escalating the tech battle
Despite tough measures under three administrations, including new Nvidia chip export restrictions, it’s not clear if they are hindering China’s momentum. In fact, tensions might be mounting for Washington to rethink its approach.
Given how intertwined the two nations are on the international technology web, the real question is not who’s in charge but whether the meeting in London will do greater harm than good.
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