A bipartisan group of U.S. lawmakers on Tuesday requested that the Trump administration prohibit American citizens and companies from assisting civilian intelligence and security agencies in China and Russia. In a letter to Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick, the lawmakers called for an expansion of existing restrictions that currently apply only to foreign military intelligence organizations.
The request follows a 2018 law that banned Americans from supporting foreign military intelligence, but left what lawmakers described as "glaring loopholes" regarding civilian-led security groups. The issue gained attention after a 2019 report revealed that the United Arab Emirates had employed former U.S. intelligence operatives to monitor various targets. While Congress passed additional measures in 2022 to strengthen these controls, the executive branch has not yet finalized the implementing rules.
Sens. Ron Wyden (D-OR) and John Cornyn (R-TX), along with four other lawmakers, argued that foreign agencies can currently hire U.S. consultants and purchase advanced American technology. They specifically cited the sale of surveillance, cyber, and artificial intelligence tools as a risk to national security interests. The Commerce Department and the Chinese and Russian embassies did not provide immediate comments in response to the inquiry.
The scale of the impact involves the entire U.S. advanced technology sector, particularly firms specializing in logic chips and artificial intelligence. Earlier this year, the administration permitted Nvidia to sell advanced AI chips to China, a decision that has already faced criticism from both political parties. Lawmakers are now pushing for stricter controls on these multi-billion-dollar markets to prevent "untrusted" firms from accessing high-end logic chips. For American businesses, this means more rigorous vetting of international clients and the potential loss of specific foreign contracts that were previously legal under the 2018 and 2022 frameworks.
This push sets a precedent for how the U.S. government regulates the export of dual-use technologies—tools that have both commercial and intelligence applications. By moving to treat civilian security agencies the same as military ones, the policy would create a more restrictive trade environment for AI and surveillance tools. What happens next depends on the Commerce Department’s response to the letter and the finalization of the 2022 rules. The pressure arrives just ahead of a scheduled visit to Washington by Chinese President Xi Jinping next month, which may influence the administration's timing on new trade or security regulations.