More than six months into President Donald Trump’s second term, the new administration’s plan for export controls on both semiconductors and chip manufacturing equipment remains unclear, industry officials and a congressional adviser said last week. They all said they hope any new controls are calibrated with allies.

The Senate Appropriations Committee voted 19-10 July 17 to approve an FY 2026 Commerce-Justice-Science appropriations bill that would provide $211 million for the Bureau of Industry and Security, up $20 million or 10.5% from the FY 2025 enacted level but well below the 59% increase the agency was seeking.

A bill to mandate location-tracking mechanisms for exports of advanced chips was panned this week by technology policy experts who said the requirement would be tricky to implement and could push foreign customers to stop trusting American-made semiconductors. They also said Congress should be more focused on boosting the Bureau of Industry and Security budget to help the agency step up enforcement.

Nearly half of respondents to a US-China Business Council survey reported losing sales to international competitors due to U.S. export controls, which is almost 20% more than last year, the council said in summary of those survey results this week. It said 56% of companies reported losing sales to Chinese competitors and that, in total, "nearly 60% of companies affected by export controls saw declines in market share last year."

The Trump administration’s decision to approve exports of advanced Nvidia chips to China could backfire on the U.S. the next time it tries to convince allies to restrict their advanced technology shipments to China, Divyansh Kaushik of Beacon Global Strategies said.

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The Office of Foreign Assets Control fined a Connecticut-based online investment broker $11,832,136 to settle alleged violations of multiple U.S. sanctions programs, saying the company illegally provided services to sanctioned people and restricted countries, and it processed trades in securities of blocked Chinese military companies.

The Trump administration will allow semiconductor firm Nvidia to sell its previously restricted advanced H20 chips to China as part of an agreement Washington and Beijing reached during trade talks in recent months, Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said.

The House Appropriations Committee released an FY 2026 Commerce-Justice-Science appropriations bill July 14 that would provide $303 million for the Bureau of Industry and Security, up $112 million or 59% from the FY 2025 enacted level.

All shipments of U.S.-origin advanced AI semiconductors will require an export license from the Malaysian government when moving through Malaysia, the country announced July 14, a move that further aligns Malaysia with U.S. efforts to prevent the diversion of sensitive chips to China.