Amo, Meeks Challenge Trump, Secretary Lutnick Plan to Sell Advanced AI Chips to China

WASHINGTON, DC - On January 12, House Foreign Affairs Vice Ranking Member Gabe Amo (D-RI) and Ranking Member Gregory W. Meeks (D-NY) challenged U.S. Secretary of Commerce Howard Lutnick over President Donald Trump's dangerous decision to loosen export controls and approve the sale of advanced AI chips to China. The move is expected to hand a strategic advantage to a global rival, threaten U.S. national security, and undermine America's edge in the AI race.

The Members write:

"For years, the United States maintained strong export controls on advanced technology to China and other adversarial nations to ensure the United States' military and technological superiority over competitors. One result of this longstanding export control policy is that China cannot currently produce the advanced AI chips needed to support its burgeoning AI industry and relies on American exports of lower grade chips to power its AI programs. National security experts support robust export controls, saying that China's lack of access to the most advanced AI chips, including H200 chips, is "the one thing holding China back in AI."

"Mere hours after the DOJ clearly stated the national security imperative of preventing China from receiving advanced AI chips, including Nvidia H200 chips, President Trump announced that he approved the sale of Nvidia H200 chips to China. In return, 25% of Nvidia's revenue from H200 chip sales would go to the United States. This decision will erode the edge the United States maintains over China's AI program and threaten our national security. The announced 25% revenue collection on the sale of H200 AI chips is likely illegal as the Export Control Reform Act of 2018 (ECRA) prohibits the federal government from charging fees in connection with the approval of export licenses. Furthermore, the revenue collection creates a perverse incentive for more chips to be approved than is in the best interest of our national security to raise additional funding."

"Given the national security dangers of allowing the sale of advanced AI chips to China and outstanding questions about why this decision was made…The United States must continue to ensure that we prevent China from accessing advanced AI chips to maintain our superior AI capabilities."

Read the full text of the letter HERE.

Background

On December 8, 2025, President Trump's Department of Justice bragged about catching a "major China-linked AI tech smuggling network," and seizing over $50 million worth of Nvidia technologies.

On December 8, 2025 (the same day), President Trump announced that he was approving the sale of Nvidia's H200 chips to China and that 25% of the revenue from the sale of H200 chips to China would go to the American government.

On January 13, 2025, Trump's Department of Commerce Bureau of Industry and Security formally eased its export license review policy to approve the sale of Nvidia's H200 and equivalent AI chips to China, despite repeated warnings about the threat to national security.

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