Trump Team Seeking to Toughen Biden’s Chip Controls Over China

Feb. 25, 2025, 6:49 PM UTC

Donald Trump’s administration is sketching out tougher versions of US semiconductor curbs and pressuring key allies to escalate their restrictions on China’s chip industry, an early indication the new US president plans to expand efforts that began under Joe Biden to limit Beijing’s technological prowess.

Trump officials recently met with their Japanese and Dutch counterparts about restricting Tokyo Electron Ltd. and ASML Holding NV engineers from maintaining semiconductor gear in China, according to people familiar with the matter. The aim, which was also a priority for Biden, is to see key allies match China curbs the US has placed on American chip-gear companies, including Lam Research Corp., KLA Corp. and Applied Materials Inc.

The working group-level meeting between US, Japanese and Dutch officials took place last week on the sidelines of a summit in Japan, people familiar with the matter said.

Related: Applied Materials Falls as Export Controls Weigh on Outlook

That comes in addition to early discussions in Washington about sanctions on specific Chinese companies, other people said. Some Trump officials also aim to further restrict the type of Nvidia Corp. chips that can be exported to China without a license, Bloomberg News has previously reported. They’re also having early conversations about tightening existing curbs on the quantity of AI chips that can be exported globally without a license, said some of the people, who asked not to be identified because the deliberations are private.

Shares in Japanese chip firms fell after Bloomberg News’s report, led by Tokyo Electron’s 4.9% slide. Nvidia shares fell 1% on Tuesday.

WATCH: Bloomberg’s Minmin Low reports on Washington considering tougher controls on chip exports to China. Source: Bloomberg

The broad goal in Washington is to prevent China from further developing a domestic semiconductor industry that could boost its AI and military capabilities — and Trump appears to be picking up where Biden left off. In some areas, that means pursuing agreements with allies that never came to fruition in the prior administration. In others, it means adopting the priorities of the more hawkish members of Biden’s team, who were unable to build internal consensus on their more aggressive policy aims.

A White House representative did not immediately respond to a request for comment. The Dutch foreign trade ministry and Japanese ministry of economy, trade and industry declined to comment.

Read more: CHINA INSIGHT: Trump Memo Is a Major Step to More Decoupling

Despite the US government’s efforts, Chinese firms have achieved key technological breakthroughs, often using chips and equipment purchased ahead of a crackdown from Washington. There’s also concern that restricted technology is still making its way to the Asian nation. The latest potential example: Bloomberg News reported last month that US officials were probing whether the Chinese AI startup DeepSeek bought advanced Nvidia chips through third parties in Singapore, circumventing export controls.

An ASML extreme ultraviolet machine cleanroom.
Source: ASML Holding NV

It could take months before the talks produce any new US regulations, as Trump makes staffing decisions at key federal agencies. It also remains to be seen whether allies will be more receptive to the new leadership in Washington. The prior administration had reached a handshake agreement with the Hague on limiting gear maintenance in China, but the Dutch demurred after Trump won the election, two senior Biden officials said. Without regular maintenance and servicing, chip-making equipment from ASML and others can quickly lose its ability to meet the rigorous demands of producing semiconductors.

Read More: Trump to Push Hard on ASML Export Controls, Dutch Premier Says

Biden’s team also handed off several other priorities to officials on Trump’s national security council, one of those officials said, and the new team was receptive. One key measure is blocking Chinese memory chipmaker ChangXin Memory Technologies Inc. from buying American technology, a step that Biden officials seriously considered but ultimately did not pursue due to opposition from Japan.

A Semiconductor Manufacturing International Corp. (SMIC) production facility in Shenzhen.
Photographer: Qilai Shen/Bloomberg

Some officials on Trump’s team also want to intensify restrictions on Semiconductor Manufacturing International Corp., the main chipmaking partner to Chinese telecom giant Huawei Technologies Co. Biden effectively blocked shipments to some SMIC facilities but established a case-by-case review for others, which the officials worry could allow SMIC to purchase tools that are ultimately used at restricted plants. SMIC’s shares closed down 1.45% in Hong Kong.

The new administration is also eyeing curbs on sales of chips that Nvidia designed specifically for China, Bloomberg has reported. Some of Biden’s NSC officials wanted to impose those tighter measures before leaving office, several people said, but then-Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo declined to pursue them.

Read More: Trump Officials Discuss Tighter Curbs on Nvidia China Sales

Then there’s the so-called AI diffusion rule, imposed in the final week of Biden’s term. The measure divided the world into three tiers of countries and set maximum thresholds for the AI computing power that can be shipped to each. It also established mechanisms for companies to validate the security of their projects and access higher compute limits.

Jensen Huang
Photographer: An Rong Xu/Bloomberg

The rule, which will have an impact on data center development everywhere from Southeast Asia to the Middle East, drew harsh rebuke from companies including Nvidia, where Chief Executive Officer Jensen Huang expressed optimism that the Trump administration would opt for a lighter regulatory touch.

Read More: Nvidia Slams Biden for Trying to ‘Preempt’ Trump With Policy

The White House is discussing how to streamline and strengthen that framework, according to several people familiar with the conversations, although what that entails is still in flux.

One idea favored by some in the administration would be to reduce the computing power that can be exported without a license. Under the current restrictions, chipmakers only have to notify the government before exporting the equivalent of as many as 1,700 graphic processing units to most countries. Some Trump officials want to reduce that threshold, people familiar with the matter said, which would expand the scope of the license requirement.

(Updates with context on meeting in third paragraph and Nvidia shares in fourth paragraph)

To contact the reporters on this story:
Mackenzie Hawkins in Washington at mhawkins71@bloomberg.net;
Cagan Koc in Amsterdam at ckoc2@bloomberg.net;
Jenny Leonard in Washington at jleonard67@bloomberg.net

To contact the editors responsible for this story:
Nick Turner at nturner7@bloomberg.net

Peter Elstrom, Debby Wu

© 2025 Bloomberg L.P. All rights reserved. Used with permission.

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