US lawmakers press for three measures restricting China access to advanced chips

US lawmakers and advocacy groups are pressing to include three chip-related measures in the annual defense authorisation bill for fiscal 2027. The proposals would tighten oversight of advanced semiconductor exports and seek to limit China's access to chips and manufacturing equipment. Inclusion in the defense bill remains a legislative possibility, not an enacted restriction.

The AI Overwatch Act would give Congress greater authority over advanced-chip exports. The Chip Security Act would require companies to track chips to help prevent smuggling. The Match Act would encourage US allies to impose further restrictions on sales of chipmaking equipment to China.

The three measures have cleared the House Foreign Affairs Committee, according to the report. Committee approval does not itself make them law. Their passage through Congress, inclusion in the final defense legislation and implementation would involve further decisions.

Senators Elizabeth Warren and Jim Banks jointly called for action to close routes through which China can obtain advanced chips, arguing that the issue poses national-security concerns. An advocacy-group representative said White House backing would be important to the measures' prospects.

The Information Technology Industry Council, whose members include Nvidia, opposes the proposals on the grounds that they could damage US competitiveness. Nvidia declined to comment for the report. The debate therefore includes competing claims about security and commercial effects; neither side's prediction establishes what the final legislation will contain or how it would affect exports.