US lawmakers push to curb China’s access to chipmaking tools

BENGALURU, Feb 11 (Reuters) – U.S. lawmakers chairing key House committees on Tuesday urged the State and Commerce Departments to restrict China’s access to advanced chipmaking equipment, warning that gaps in export controls threaten national security.

In a bipartisan letter, House Select Committee on China Chairman John Moolenaar and House Foreign Affairs Committee Chairman Brian Mast called for countrywide restrictions on chipmaking tools, arguing that China has accelerated imports of foreign-made equipment critical to advanced chip production. 

“We urge the Administration to press allies to implement countrywide controls on key chokepoint semiconductor manufacturing equipment and subcomponents: that is, all equipment and subcomponents that China cannot produce indigenously,” the letter to U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio and Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick said.

The signatories also include House Foreign Affairs Ranking Member Gregory Meeks and several members of the South and Central Asia Subcommittee who called for restrictions on servicing existing equipment already operating in Chinese chip facilities, arguing that such maintenance is essential for these tools to remain functional. 

Lawmakers also asked U.S. President Donald Trump’s administration to provide a briefing within the next month outlining its strategy for securing allied cooperation on broad, countrywide controls targeting critical semiconductor manufacturing equipment and components. 

The congressional warning over gaps in U.S. export controls comes as China appears to be making breakthroughs Washington has long sought to block. Beijing still faces major technical challenges, particularly in replicating the precision optical systems that Western suppliers produce.

In December, Reuters learned that Chinese scientists in a high-security Shenzhen lab have built a prototype machine modeled on ASML’s extreme ultraviolet (EUV) lithography tools – the pioneering equipment required to produce the most advanced chips that power artificial intelligence, smartphones and Western military hardware.

(Reporting by Ruchika Khanna in Bengaluru. Editing by Mark Potter)