U.S. President Joe Biden in August issued an executive order authorizing the Treasury secretary to prohibit or restrict U.S. investments in Chinese entities in three sectors: semiconductors and microelectronics, quantum information technologies and certain artificial intelligence systems.
Yellen should adopt a broad definition of technology in her guidelines on the investment restrictions, the lawmakers said in the letter, dated Oct. 30, arguing China had blurred the lines between commercial and military technology. They said Treasury should work with U.S. authorities to pursue maximum penalties for violations, and also address more passive flows of U.S. capital, such as through public markets and mutual funds.