Senior House lawmakers who lead key committees overseeing China policy and foreign affairs pressed the State and Commerce Departments on Tuesday to tighten controls that would restrict Beijing's access to advanced chipmaking equipment.
In a bipartisan letter, the chairman of the House Select Committee on China, John Moolenaar, and the chairman of the House Foreign Affairs Committee, Brian Mast, asked the administration to impose countrywide limits on semiconductor manufacturing tools and parts. The lawmakers argued that China has sped up purchases of foreign-made equipment that are essential for producing advanced integrated circuits.
The letter, addressed to U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio and Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick, included a direct appeal: "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."
Signatories on the letter also included House Foreign Affairs Ranking Member Gregory Meeks and several members of the South and Central Asia Subcommittee. Those members urged restrictions not only on new shipments but also on servicing of existing equipment already operating inside Chinese chip plants, saying maintenance is necessary for those tools to remain operational.
The lawmakers requested that President Donald Trump’s administration provide a briefing within the next month that outlines its strategy for enlisting allied cooperation on broad, countrywide controls aimed at critical semiconductor manufacturing equipment and components.
The congressional appeal highlights concerns that gaps in current U.S. export controls could undermine national security. Lawmakers framed their request as a response to what they characterized as increasing imports of vital manufacturing machinery by China.
At the same time, the letter comes against reporting that China appears to be progressing toward technologies Washington has long sought to block. The lawmakers acknowledged that Beijing still confronts significant technical hurdles, particularly in duplicating the precision optical systems produced by Western suppliers.
In December, reporting indicated that scientists in a high-security laboratory in Shenzhen had assembled a prototype machine modeled on ASML's extreme ultraviolet lithography tools. Those EUV systems are the pioneering equipment required to make the most advanced chips that power artificial intelligence, smartphones and Western military hardware.
The congressional request focuses on two central measures: countrywide export restrictions for equipment and subcomponents China cannot produce domestically, and limits on servicing existing machines in Chinese facilities. Lawmakers asked the administration to brief Congress on its approach to securing allied agreement and implementation of such controls.