Two lawmakers urge U.S. to further tighten restrictions on SMIC

Two key Republican lawmakers on Tuesday urged the Trump administration to strengthen new rules adopted Friday aimed at preventing China's biggest chipmaker SMIC from getting access to advanced U.S. technology.

Senator Marco Rubio and Representative Michael McCaul said the Entity List designation by the U.S. Commerce Department was not strict enough and should be rewritten immediately to close "dangerous loopholes that would allow nearly all sales to SMIC to continue without restriction and support the (Chinese Communist Party's) stated goal of military preeminence." The letter said they were concerned that without changes the rules would be "utterly ineffective in addressing this growing national security threat."