The United States government has shelved several key tech security measures targeted at China prior to the meeting between the two countries’ presidents in April. These measures include a ban on China Telecom operations in the U.S. and restrictions on the sale of Chinese equipment for U.S. data centres, according to sources.
This is the latest move by the Trump administration to rein in U.S. government actions that have the potential to antagonise Beijing following a truce reached by Chinese President Xi Jinping and U.S. President Donald Trump in the long-standing trade war, said the sources.
This meeting will also include a pledge by China to delay strict export restrictions on rare-earth minerals that tech manufacturers globally depend on.
Defusing Trade Tensions
The Commerce Department has stated that it is actively utilising its authority to “address national security risks from foreign technology, and we will continue to do so.”
While this decision from the administration is likely an attempt to defuse trade tensions, some critics believe that this may leave U.S. data centres and technology vulnerable to Chinese threats, especially with the increase in construction for data centres in order to meet the demand for AI.
“At a moment when we are desperately trying to remove ourselves from Beijing’s leverage over rare-earth supply chains, it is ironic that we’re actually letting Beijing acquire new areas of leverage over the U.S. economy,” said Matt Pottinger, who served as deputy national security advisor during Trump’s first term.
The Chinese Embassy says that China opposes the idea of “turning trade and technological issues into political weapons” and that it welcomes U.S. cooperation with China.
Democratic lawmakers have also voiced their objection to removing these measures, “You can’t claim to be ‘tough on China’ and let the Chinese Communist Party flood their technology into critical infrastructure and companies across,” U.S. Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer said.
Turn Focus To Iran And Russia
According to two sources, all measures that the administration has currently paused were aimed at securing sensitive American data against blackmail or intellectual property theft that would allow Beijing to position itself deep within internet-connected systems and sabotage critical infrastructure.
The sources also said that after the truce in October last year, leadership instructed staff in the Commerce Department charged with policing foreign tech to now “focus on Iran and Russia.”
(With inputs from Reuters)
