House Committee Passes Chip Security Act

Today, the House Foreign Affairs Committee passed bipartisan legislation to curb the smuggling of American semiconductors to foreign adversaries. The Chip Security Act was introduced last year as a direct response to bipartisan concerns raised by the Select Committee on China in its report on Deepseek, which concluded the company used advanced chips produced by American semiconductor giant Nvidia that are restricted from export to the PRC to develop its AI model. 

“America has the best semiconductors in the world and we must defend our advantage over China, which is actively working to break the law and smuggle American chips. The Chip Security Act will make it harder to steal from us, and it will protect American jobs and industry. This legislation also advances President Trump’s AI Action Plan by implementing location verification and denying our adversaries access to compute power. Thank you to Chairman Mast, Congressman Huizenga, and the House Foreign Affairs Committee for advancing this legislation,” said Select Committee Chairman John Moolenaar.

The Chip Security Act would:

• Require Location Verification for Advanced AI Chips: The Department of Commerce must work to ensure America’s most advanced AI chips are not diverted to unauthorized regions and end up in the hands of our adversaries—especially those fueling military aggression or targeting the U.S. economy and service members.
• Enforce Mandatory Reporting: Chipmaker companies must report and share credible information about potential diversion of sensitive technology to restricted actors.
• Study Additional Safeguards: Requires the Department of Commerce to study additional methods that could stop U.S. chips from being stolen, misused, or ending up in the wrong hands. 

The bill is a direct response to bipartisan concerns raised by the House Select Committee on China and reinforces the need for safeguards to prevent the CCP from accelerating its AI capabilities with American technology.

Earlier this month, the Department of Justice filed charges against three individuals for a conspiracy to violate U.S. national security laws and smuggle billions of dollars of advanced artificial intelligence chips to China

“The Justice Department, the FBI, and the Trump Administration have taken a significant step to help protect America’s technological edge against China. This indictment makes clear that the smuggling of American AI chips to China is a major threat to our national security. It also underscores that China’s potential AI power – from chips to models – is highly dependent on American technology and illicit activity. We must take further action, including passage of the Chip Security Act and other steps, to ensure America’s dominance in the AI race with China,” said Moolenaar in response to the charges.

Similarly, in November of 2025, the Department of Justice announced it has indicted three Chinese nationals for smuggling high-tech chips to China. According to reports, they “were involved in a scheme to ship these chips to third party countries—Thailand and Malaysia—that would then be shipped to China."

“China continues to flout U.S. export controls and this indictment is the latest example. China recognizes the superiority of American AI innovation and will do whatever it must to catch up. That’s why the bipartisan Chip Security Act is urgently needed. The bill will safeguard our cutting-edge technology and require location verification to prevent our chips from being smuggled to our adversaries,” said Moolenaar in November.