China's commerce ministry warns on US chip bills

China said on April 25 it is monitoring US bills that cleared the House Foreign Affairs Committee targeting semiconductor and AI exports, warning they could disrupt supply chains and the global chip industry.

One proposal is the Multilateral Alignment of Technology Controls on Hardware Act, which would further limit exports of chipmaking equipment.

China’s commerce ministry said the bills broaden national security to justify trade curbs and that Beijing would assess the impact on its interests and take steps to protect domestic companies, without giving details.

The committee vote shows rising bipartisan support in Congress for tighter technology controls on China, even as the Trump administration has not announced major new restrictions.

🔗 Source: Bloomberg

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Implications, context, and why it matters.

New legislation would codify some chip controls and could limit executive leeway

The Multilateral Alignment of Technology Controls on Hardware (MATCH) Act would put some export controls into law, shifting part of that authority from the executive branch to Congress 1.
It would set a nationwide ban on exports of certain Deep Ultraviolet (DUV) lithography systems to China 1.
The bill would write five Chinese companies into statute as “Covered Facilities.” Those firms are Semiconductor Manufacturing International Corp. (SMIC) (a leading Chinese chipmaker); ChangXin Memory Technologies (CXMT) (a Chinese memory chip company); Yangtze Memory Technologies Co. (YMTC) (a Chinese flash memory chipmaker); Hua Hong (a Chinese semiconductor manufacturer); and Huawei (the Chinese telecoms and technology company) 1. Their fabs, facilities plus subsidiaries and affiliates would also be covered. That would leave less room to dodge controls through restructuring 1.
Current U.S. Commerce Department restrictions, including the Entity List, rely more on case-by-case decisions and licensing choices by the executive branch 1.

The proposed law could strain ties with allies while China warns of supply chain disruption

The Act gives the Netherlands and Japan 150 days to adopt matching controls. After that, the U.S. could widen restrictions through the Foreign Direct Product Rule, a U.S. rule that lets Washington restrict some foreign-made goods if they are produced with certain U.S. technology 1.
In December 2024, China’s Ministry of Commerce banned exports to the United States of gallium; germanium; antimony; and certain “superhard” metals 2. The measure also targeted transshipment to the U.S. 2.
China also set government procurement standards that require “security and reliability” reviews for central processing units (CPUs), operating systems, and databases. Foreign business groups say the rules create practical barriers for U.S. microprocessor suppliers such as Intel and AMD 2.
These measures may slow China in the near term. They could also speed its “whole-of-nation” push for self-sufficiency, which may weaken U.S. restrictions over time 3.