Biden orders ban on certain US tech investments in China
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President Joe Biden signed an executive order that will prohibit some new U.S. investment in China in sensitive technologies like computer chips and require government notification in other tech sectors.
The long-awaited order authorizes the U.S. Treasury secretary to prohibit or restrict U.S. investments in Chinese entities in three sectors: semiconductors and microelectronics, quantum information technologies and certain artificial intelligence systems.The administration said the restrictions would apply to “narrow subsets” of the three areas but did not give specifics. The proposal is open for public input.
The order is aimed at preventing American capital and expertise from helping China develop technologies that could support its military modernization and undermine U.S. national security. The measure targets private equity, venture capital, joint ventures and greenfield investments.
Biden, a Democrat, said in a letter to Congress he was declaring a national emergency to deal with the threat of advancement by countries like China “in sensitive technologies and products critical to the military, intelligence, surveillance or cyber-enabled capabilities.”China said on Thursday it is “gravely concerned” about the order and that it reserves the right to take measures.
Meanwhile, the European Commission said that it will analyse the U.S. ban on new U.S. investment in China in sensitive technologies such as computer chips and is in close contact with the U.S. administration, the EU executive said on Thursday.
“We take note of the Executive Order on outbound investment released by the U.S. on 9 August. We will be analysing the Executive Order closely,” a Commission spokesperson said in an email.”We are in close contact with the US administration and look forward to continued cooperation on this topic.”
