The Treasury Department says the restrictions will ensure that American investment does not advance technologies that threaten national security.
The United States has finalized rules limiting investments in critical technology sectors in China, such as artificial intelligence, for national security reasons, the Treasury Department announced.
The restrictions will prohibit US citizens and permanent residents, as well as US-based companies, from conducting transactions involving technologies such as artificial intelligence, semiconductors and quantum computing, the Treasury said in a statement on Monday.
U.S. investors will also be required to report to Treasury about investments in some less advanced technologies “that may contribute to the threat to the national security of the United States,” the Treasury said.
The restrictions, which go into effect Jan. 2, will ensure that “U.S. investment is not exploited to advance the development of key technologies by those who could use them to threaten our national security,” said Paul Rosen, assistant secretary of the Treasury. for Investment Security.
“US investments, including intangible benefits such as management assistance and access to investment and talent networks that often accompany such capital flows, should not be used to help the countries concerned develop their military, intelligence and and cyber,” Rosen said.
The restrictions come on the heels of President Joe Biden signing an executive order last year targeting investment in semiconductors and microelectronics, quantum computing and certain artificial intelligence capabilities.
Biden warned at the time that U.S. investments could be helping adversaries develop sensitive technologies that are “critical to the military, intelligence, surveillance or cyber capabilities of such countries.”
China's Foreign Ministry criticized Biden's executive order as an attempt to “engage in anti-globalization and de-sinicization.”
“Beijing is deeply dissatisfied and firmly opposed to the United States' insistence on introducing restrictions on investment in China, and has made solemn representations to the United States,” the ministry said in a statement.
