Ranking Member Krishnamoorthi Warns That Trump’s Reckless Policy on AI Chip Exports Sells Out U.S. Security to Beijing
WASHINGTON, D.C. – Today, Ranking Member Raja Krishnamoorthi (D-IL) of the House Select Committee on the Strategic Competition Between the United States and the Chinese Communist Party sent a letter to President Donald Trump expressing concern over the Administration’s reported approval of export licenses for advanced artificial intelligence (AI) chips to the People’s Republic of China (PRC) in exchange for a cut of corporate revenue.
“Conditioning export control licenses on revenue-sharing violates the Constitution and current U.S. statute, while sending a harmful message to the world that our national security is for sale,” Krishnamoorthi wrote. “I urge you to reverse course on this dangerous policy immediately.”
According to public reports, the Trump Administration is allowing sales of the China-specific NVIDIA H20 and AMD MI308 chips for a 15% share of sales to the PRC and is considering similar terms for a downgraded version of NVIDIA’s most advanced “Blackwell” AI chip series.
Ranking Member Krishnamoorthi warned that “allowing even downgraded versions of cutting-edge AI hardware to flow to the PRC risks accelerating Beijing’s capabilities and eroding our technological edge.” He noted that “the PRC can build the largest AI supercomputers in the world by purchasing a moderately larger number of downgraded Blackwell chips—and achieve the same capability to train frontier AI models and deploy them at scale for national security purposes.”
Congressman Krishnamoorthi emphasized that “export controls exist to protect our national security — not to generate revenue” and cited the Export Control Reform Act’s explicit prohibition on charging fees “in connection with the submission, processing, or consideration of any application for a license” under U.S. export control regulations.
“By requiring companies like NVIDIA and AMD to pay a percentage of their sales revenue to obtain export licenses, your Administration is flagrantly violating this clear legal prohibition,” Krishnamoorthi wrote. “Allowing these exports at a profit sends a dangerous signal not only to the PRC but also to our allies, who rely on U.S. leadership and integrity in advanced technology controls.”
In his letter, the Ranking Member requested detailed answers by August 22, 2025, on the legal authority for the revenue-sharing scheme, its financial management and oversight, and whether Congress or the interagency review process was consulted before approval.
“The American people deserve transparency. Our export control regime must be based on genuine security considerations, not creative taxation schemes disguised as national security policy,” Krishnamoorthi concluded.
The full letter is available here.
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