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The Information Technology Industry Council, a top tech trade group, is urging lawmakers to consider using their power to nix last-minute regulations on an expected rule that would further limit the export of advanced microchips.
A letter from ITI, which was shared exclusively with Punchbowl News, is a pitch to both lawmakers and President-elect Donald Trump’s incoming administration to heed industry concerns when pushing back on China.
ITI counts chip companies as its members along with Big Tech platforms, device-makers, software giants and financial firms. ITI’s missive said Trump should rescind the rule. If not, lawmakers should consider using the Congressional Review Act to rescind the measure “to protect U.S. global leadership on AI.”
Senate Commerce Committee Chair Ted Cruz (R-Texas) has said he’s considering using CRA. Other Republicans, however, love how hard the expected regulation hits China. The concerns of industry and China hawks are expected to clash in the upcoming Trump administration.
The tech group has been helping lead the opposition against the Commerce Department’s expected “diffusion” rule, which ITI says would “place global restrictions on countries’ access to integrated circuits, regardless of cluster size or use case.”
Alongside firms, including Nvidia and Oracle, ITI has said the rule is too broad, would have a whopping financial impact on companies and was written with little to no input from businesses.
“A rule of this nature would cede the global market to U.S. competitors who will be eager to fill the untapped demand created by placing arbitrary constraints on U.S. companies’ ability to sell basic computing systems overseas,” ITI said in the letter. It was addressed to congressional leaders, including Senate Majority Leader John Thune and Speaker Mike Johnson.
