Lawmaker Urged Stricter AI Chip Export Controls
The proposed SCALE Act seeks to cap Chinese AI computing power and limit the technical performance of exported chips.
Updated on Sept. 18, 2026 in Semiconductors
Live Poll
Should the U.S. enforce stricter export controls on advanced AI chips to limit China's progress?
Representative John Moolenaar has pressured the Trump administration to tighten export controls on AI-capable chips bound for China. The push includes the introduction of the SCALE Act, a legislative proposal designed to restrict semiconductor access based on Chinese domestic production metrics.
Why it matters
The proposal aims to address concerns that smuggled or proxy-sourced hardware has accelerated China's artificial intelligence development. It shifts export policy from a static control list toward a dynamic framework tied to the technical performance of domestic Chinese output.
The SCALE Act proposes limiting US-exported semiconductor performance to no more than 110% of the capabilities of chips produced domestically in China. It also sets a long-term goal of capping China's total AI computing power at 10% of current United States capacity.
The players
John Moolenaar
Chair of the House Select Committee on the Chinese Communist Party and architect of the SCALE Act.
Nvidia
A designer of high-performance graphics processing units that maintains a complex global supply chain.
Huawei
A Chinese telecommunications and technology company that has faced extensive US trade and technology restrictions.
The details
The proposal leverages the existing foundry rule, a regulatory mechanism that restricts semiconductor supply chains by scrutinizing the relationship between fabrication plants—the factories that manufacture microchips—and restricted Chinese end-users. By tying export thresholds directly to domestic production, the legislation seeks to prevent the diversion of advanced semiconductors to firms currently under trade restrictions. This follows the previous identification of Sophgo-branded chips inside Huawei AI products, which highlighted vulnerabilities in the current oversight regime.
Timeline
September 18, 2026: Representative John Moolenaar urged action on export controls.
The Tech Race
This move marks a departure from static export lists toward a relative performance metric modeled after the Biden administration's foundry rule. It aims to force a widening technology gap by tethering the ceiling of Chinese AI potential to its own measured, domestic engineering output.
The proposal creates significant uncertainty for US semiconductor firms currently operating under the Trump administration's approval of H200 chip exports to China. If enacted, this legislation would force manufacturers to benchmark their products against Chinese domestic output to determine legal eligibility for export.
The takeaway
The SCALE Act attempts to turn the export control regime into a mathematical barrier that scales with Chinese industrial success. Stakeholders should track future committee hearings regarding the legislation's implementation and how the administration navigates existing export approvals for H200 chips.
Further reading
For more on the current landscape of chip supply and regulation, see our coverage of Semiconductors.
Live Poll
Should the U.S. enforce stricter export controls on advanced AI chips to limit China's progress?
