Congressional Democrats are voicing alarm at the truth that the U.S. may quickly start promoting cutting-edge chips to one in every of its best geopolitical adversaries.
Rep. Gregory Meeks, D-N.Y., joined by Sen. Elizabeth Warren, D-Mass., wrote a letter to Below Secretary for Business and Safety Jeffrey Kessler on Monday, demanding solutions as to why the Trump administration had green-lit the sale of the H200 Chip to China.
“The President directing you to approve licenses of the H200 falls inside a deeply regarding sample that undercuts our nation’s safety,” the pair of Democrats wrote.
Meeks mentioned the premise of his request is discovered within the Export Management Reform Act (ECRA), the 2018 regulation governing the federal authorities authority over technology-related exports. The ECRA states that the Division of Commerce should provide Congress with solutions to considerations raised by the rating member of the international affairs and armed providers committees.
“In ECRA, Congress said the coverage of america is ‘to limit the export of things which might make a major contribution to the navy potential of another nation,’” Meeks wrote.
“Approving licenses for objects like NVIDIA’s H200 chips, which the Justice Division lately described as ‘integral to trendy navy purposes,’ can be deeply at odds with the coverage that Congress articulated in ECRA.”
The H200 chip, one of many world’s most superior computational units, is NVIDIA’s crème of the crop. It performs a key function within the processing wanted for more and more subtle AI.
The corporate was first ordered to halt gross sales to China in 2022 beneath the Biden administration.
“The [government] indicated that the brand new license requirement will deal with the danger that the coated merchandise could also be utilized in, or diverted to, a ‘navy finish use’ or ‘navy finish person’ in China,” the corporate mentioned in a submitting.
Like Meeks, a number of lawmakers fear that permitting their sale to China will solely additional empower an adversary that has had no qualms weaponizing know-how. Lately, Congress has banned using Chinese language-made Huawei units for presidency staff and, final yr, handed a regulation forcing the divestment of TikTok, fearing China’s far-reaching perception via the info collected by the favored social media app.
To Meeks, the choice to renew gross sales of the H200 chip — to China and to different potential rivals — appears incongruent with that previous wariness.
“Simply final month, you permitted the export of tens of 1000’s of superior AI chips, value an estimated $1 billion, to the United Arab Emirates and Saudi Arabia, regardless of important considerations about these international locations’ human rights data and their shut relationships with the [People’s Republic of China],” Meeks wrote.
Whereas some Republicans share Meeks’ hesitation, others have mentioned that the Trump administration’s reversal matches into a bigger plan to make sure American competitiveness in future years.
Meeks and Warren have requested solutions from the administration about what components led to the choice by Jan. 12, 2026.
