Stock prices of major semiconductor designers and manufacturers jumped at reports that the government was considering pulling back some restrictions.
The Trump administration is working to end Biden-era restrictions on how US semiconductors are sold overseas.
Stock prices of major semiconductor designers and manufacturers jumped at reports that Washington could end some restrictions on chip sales, but details are still lacking.
A Commerce Department spokesman said the Trump administration will withdraw Biden-era rules that it deems to be overly complicated and bureaucratic and replace them with more streamlined rules.
“The Biden AI rules are overly complex, overly bureaucratic and will hinder American innovation. We will replace them with a much simpler rule that will unleash American innovation and guarantee American AI control,” the spokesman said.
Details about new rules and which old rules to replace were not available immediately.
Under current rules, US and foreign companies that manufacture US-designed chips cannot do business with certain designated entities, such as those associated with the Chinese military.
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Most sales are not banned entirely, but a special license from the US government is required to prevent chips from being sold to entities that could pose national security risks to the US.
In 2022, the Biden administration added more advanced, high-performance chips and related products, including such chips, to its list of restricted items, claiming that such technology could be used for both civilian and military purposes.
At the time, US companies such as Nvidia and AMD were blocking the sale of high-end AI chips to China, and were forced to create watering designs for the Chinese market.
In 2023, the Biden administration moved to close what they saw as a loophole in the previous list by further limiting some of the watering tips companies created for China and adding tighter controls on semiconductor manufacturing equipment.
Similarly, in 2024, the Biden administration began putting diplomatic pressure on its allies, prompting attractive leaders in the Netherlands, Japan, South Korea and Taiwan to restrict exports of chip manufacturing tools and technology to China.
It is unclear whether the Trump administration intends to either withdraw the Biden-era process to request a license to export chips, or reduce the number of chips on the restricted list, or both.
However, given the recent actions of the Trump administration on the issue, it is unlikely that the new restrictions will significantly improve access to China’s chips.
The administration is conducting a national security investigation into the electronics supply chain, including semiconductor manufacturing capabilities, and President Donald Trump has repeatedly said new tariffs on chips will be released soon.
The news comes just hours after Treasury Secretary Scott Bescent said we and Chinese officials would begin negotiations on trade this weekend.
Reuters contributed to this report
