Biden administration plans to tighten technology controls on China

Joe Biden's administration plans to announce new restrictions on exports of semiconductor chips and equipment to be manufactured to China. It is one of his most recent attempts to stop Beijing's quest for self-sufficiency in an area crucial to national security: advanced semiconductor technology.

"The package, delayed for months as the administration sought to bring foreign partners aboard and address industry concerns, is the latest in a series of controls that began under the first Trump administration," explained The Washington Post, which first reported the development.

Meanwhile, Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo welcomed the decision, saying it was "groundbreaking and sweeping" and among the strongest measures to curtail China's ability to manufacture chips to fuel its military ambitions.

In that regard, The Washington Post explained that "the new controls impose restrictions on U.S. technology exports to about a half-dozen Chinese chip factories, including some suppliers to China's top chip designer, Huawei Technologies, according to officials and analysts familiar with the matter."

Similarly, Meghan Harris, a former Commerce Department official in the first Trump administration involved in the creation of the previous rule, noted that the next administration will need to make quick decisions to deal with the situation.

"The Trump administration will need to get the right people in the right seats and implement a smart export control strategy quickly," Harris said.