MANILA – The United States is constantly evaluating the possibility of expanding its export controls to prevent China from acquiring computer chips or manufacturing equipment that it can use to boost its military, US Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo said Monday.
Export controls were imposed for the first time in 2022 to prevent the use of chips for war purposes, such as the development of hypersonic missiles or artificial intelligence.
Last year, the Commerce Department expanded export controls, prompting protests from China’s Ministry of Commerce that the restrictions violate international trade rules and “seriously threaten the stability of industrial supply chains.”
China warned that it will take “all necessary measures” to defend its interests and urged Washington to lift restrictions as soon as possible.
When asked if the United States plans to further expand controls on exports to China, Raimondo responded, at a press conference in the Philippine capital of Manila, that the issue is constantly under evaluation.
“We review the issue every day,” Raimondo stated. “Technology is changing faster than ever, and that means every day we wake up and ask ourselves, ‘Are we doing enough?’”
“My job is to protect the American people and make sure that there is no sophisticated technology – including semiconductors or artificial intelligence – that China has that it can use to improve its military capabilities,” Raimondo said.
But the United States will continue selling billions of dollars of semiconductors to China, Raimondo warned.
“I want to be very clear. We have no interest in divorcing our economies,” she stressed, although she added: “We cannot allow China to have access to our most advanced technologies for military purposes.”
Raimondo said she was sent by President Joe Biden to Manila along with a delegation of executives from 22 American companies that, she said, plan to invest around $1 billion in the Philippines — Washington’s oldest treaty ally in Asia. The US investments include training a large number of Filipinos to acquire technological skills that will help them get well-paying jobs, the official noted.
“The alliance between the United States and the Philippines is made of steel. It has been in place for 72 years and we remain close friends and partners in prosperity,” stated Raimondo.
The secretary met with Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. and he “cannot imagine a future for the Philippines without close ties with the United States,” Raimondo said.
Source: With information from AP
