WASHINGTON, Aug 10 (Reuters) - Republican Congressman John

Moolenaar, who leads the House Select Committee on China, called

on the Trump administration to make sure chip manufacturers

don't send advanced logic chips to untrusted Chinese firms.

In January 2025, the Biden administration unveiled a new

rule requiring chip manufacturers to scrutinize orders of

advanced chips from companies that could be serving as a front

for untrusted firms from China and other countries.

The rule was a response to revelations that Chinese chip

designer Sophgo had chips manufactured at TSMC that

were later discovered inside AI processors marketed by Huawei.

Huawei has been heavily sanctioned by the United States.

Soon after President Donald Trump took office, though, his

administration announced it did not plan to enforce another

Biden-era chip regulation referenced in the manufacturer rule,

fueling uncertainty about the enforcement of that measure.

In a letter dated Thursday, Moolenaar described the measure

as "a critical step in preventing from accessing

high-end U.S. chips and preserving America's technological

edge," urging the Commerce Department to enforce it.

The chip manufacturer rule was created "to close the

loophole that Huawei and Sophgo exploited," Moolenaar wrote in

the letter, sent to Jeffrey Kessler, who oversees export

controls at the Commerce Department.

If chip factories like TSMC, the world's largest, determine

that their chips are not subject to the rules, "it would

dramatically increase the risk of another SophGo-like export

control failure," Moolenaar said.

Commerce, Huawei, Sophgo and TSMC did not respond to

requests for comment.

The letter, not previously reported, is a sign of increasing

congressional concern, even among Republicans, about the Trump

administration's more lenient approach to advanced chips

reaching Chinese shores.

In June, Republican Senator Jim Banks co-wrote a letter

urging Trump's administration to tighten rules on chip contract

​manufacturers to prevent them from ‌making advanced AI chips

for overseas units of Chinese companies.

Republican Representative Bill Huizenga sharply criticized

Kessler over similar concerns last month, while a decision by

the Trump administration to allow Nvidia ( NVDA ) to sell

advanced AI chips to China has drawn fire from both parties.