California Democrats fear US tech firm ‘death spiral’ with more China curbs

California Democrats are calling on the Biden administration to freeze reported plans to impose fresh restrictions on U.S. technology exports to China, arguing unilateral curbs benefit foreign rivals at the expense of U.S. businesses.

Washington has imposed a raft of restrictions on exports of chips and chipmaking equipment to China in recent years, fearing Beijing could use the technology to bolster its military. The Netherlands and Japan, home to chipmaking equipment producers ASML and Tokyo Electron respectively, have also restricted equipment exports to China but stopped short of matching some of the toughest U.S. measures.