By David Shepardson WASHINGTON (Reuters) – A senior Democratic senator on Wednesday urged President Donald Trump’s nominee to lead the Commerce Department’s Bureau of Industry and Security to take a tough line on China, citing Chinese startup DeepSeek’s artificial intelligence technology. U.S. Senator Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts, the top Democrat on the Banking Committee, told […]
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Democratic senator urges Trump Commerce nominee to take hard line on China
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By David Shepardson
WASHINGTON (Reuters) – A senior Democratic senator on Wednesday urged President Donald Trump’s nominee to lead the Commerce Department’s Bureau of Industry and Security to take a tough line on China, citing Chinese startup DeepSeek’s artificial intelligence technology.
U.S. Senator Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts, the top Democrat on the Banking Committee, told nominee Jeffrey Kessler in a letter seen by Reuters that the Trump administration should strengthen AI chips rules adopted by then-President Joe Biden’s administration in January.
Kessler and the Commerce Department did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
“In light of DeepSeek, we must reinforce our controls on (China),” Warren wrote, calling for a series of actions on Chinese tech efforts, including clamping down on chip smuggling, restricting powerful inference chips like Nvidia’s H20, implementing comprehensive controls on ChangXin Memory Technology and advanced memory production.
Reuters reported in January that a change in policy by the Biden administration would likely affect goods and technology destined for ChangXin by imposing controls on more of its facilities, according to chip experts.
Warren said some Chinese companies on the U.S. export restriction list, known as the “Entity List”, including Huawei, SMIC, and Sugon are using aliases to keep acquiring U.S. technology.
“Will you commit to taking steps to address this behavior, including adding additional front companies to the Entity List?” Warren asked in the letter.
She also asked if Kessler believes Huawei and SMIC violated U.S. law by producing 7-nanometer chips with U.S. technology.
The companies did not immediately respond to requests for comment or could not be reached.
Kessler, a partner at the law firm of WilmerHale, served as assistant secretary for enforcement and compliance during Trump’s first term, which made him the Commerce Department’s top trade enforcement official, faces a confirmation hearing on Thursday before the Senate Banking Committee.
He said in his written testimony that “China is catching up in many cutting-edge areas of technology” and the “United States must respond with strength and vision.”
(Reporting by David Shepardson; Editing by Bill Berkrot)