Trump authorities unveil strategy to curb AI technology shipments to China
The White House, under the Trump administration, has unveiled an ambitious AI Action Plan titled **"Winning the Race: America’s AI Action Plan,"** with a strategic focus on securing US leadership in artificial intelligence, particularly in competition with China. The plan, announced on July 23, 2025, outlines over 90 federal policy actions organized around three core pillars: Accelerating Innovation, Building American AI Infrastructure, and Leading in International AI Diplomacy and Security.
At the heart of the plan is a selective export control policy for AI technology, aiming to foster alliances and partnerships with friendly nations while denying advanced AI technologies to foreign adversaries. This policy extends to critical components such as advanced chips and chipmaking equipment, as these are vital to AI infrastructure and subject to technology transfer restrictions aimed at countries of concern, including China, Iran, North Korea, Russia, and others.
The plan signals an intent to strengthen international AI diplomacy and security, especially by fostering cooperation with allies through technology sharing and support. However, it balances this collaboration with restrictions on transfers to geopolitical competitors. The emphasis on defending against AI misuse and theft underlines a security dimension in international collaboration, emphasizing safeguards in joint ventures or technology transfers.
The Commerce Department will develop new export controls on chipmaking components and explore using new chip location verification features for monitoring purposes. The aim is to close loopholes in current restrictions and prevent adversaries from participating in defence supply chains. The Defence and Commerce departments are also directed to coordinate with allies on adopting these US export controls.
The plan advocates deregulation and removing "bureaucratic red tape" to accelerate AI development domestically, contrasting with prior administration’s more cautious approach. It underscores the goal of AI to empower American workers and create high-paying jobs, emphasizing AI’s economic and social impact domestically. National security themes permeate the plan, highlighting the risk of AI misuse and a focus on protecting technologies from adversarial exploitation.
The AI Action Plan is being led by the US Commerce Department, with the aim to prohibit American adversaries from being involved in defence supply chains. The plan also aims to limit the spread of Chinese AI models, reflecting the potential for AI to significantly impact the world and transform the global economy, as emphasized by White House AI tsar, David Sacks.
- The AI Action Plan, led by the US Commerce Department, governs export controls on AI technology to ensure friendly nations receive alliances but deny advanced technologies to foreign adversaries, especially China.
- The ambitious AI Action Plan, in line with international AI diplomacy and security, seeks to establish new export controls on chipmaking components and employ chip location verification features, aimed at both closing loopholes and preventing adversaries from participating in defense supply chains.
- In the economic sphere, the AI Action Plan emphasizes deregulation and removing bureaucratic red tape to accelerate AI development domestically, with the goal of empowering American workers and creating high-paying jobs while also focusing on protecting technologies from adversarial exploitation, particularly in the military and political arenas.
