Foreign media: Biden administration will continue Trump's policy of blocking Chinese technology development transactions

According to the Wall Street Journal, people familiar with the matter revealed that the Biden administration plans to allow a comprehensive bill aimed at combating China's technological development, which is continued from the Trump administration and will take effect next month.

It is understood that the bill was originally proposed in November 2020, enabling the US Department of Commerce to ban technology-related business transactions that it deems a threat to national security.

Companies in technology, telecommunications, finance and other industries said the bill could stifle innovation and hurt competitiveness, having previously predicted delays as the Biden administration conducts a broad review of U.S. technology policy toward China.

However, people familiar with the matter revealed that the Biden administration is now planning to proceed with the plan. "Government officials are concerned that blocking the plan will send the wrong message about the new administration's approach to China, which may trigger criticism that it is taking a weaker approach."

Another person familiar with the matter said administration officials have signaled to the business community that they will not aggressively enforce the bill, but representatives said the bill would still impose significant new compliance costs and uncertainty on companies, especially smaller ones, though that could mitigate the impact.

In response, IBM said the bill was "overreaching" and would harm the economy while failing to enhance U.S. national security.

The White House did not respond to a request for comment.

The bill could affect as many as 4.5 million U.S. businesses of all sizes, potentially requiring them to get government approval, according to an estimate by the U.S. Commerce Department.