BENGALURU: US lawmakers chairing key House committees on Tuesday (Feb 10) urged the State and Commerce Departments to restrict China's access to advanced chipmaking equipment, warning that gaps in export controls threaten national security.

In a bipartisan letter, House Select Committee on China Chairman John Moolenaar and House Foreign Affairs Committee Chairman Brian Mast called for countrywide restrictions on chipmaking tools, arguing that China has accelerated imports of foreign-made equipment critical to advanced chip production.

"We urge the Administration to press allies to implement countrywide controls on key chokepoint semiconductor manufacturing equipment and subcomponents: that is, all equipment and subcomponents that China cannot produce indigenously," the letter to US Secretary of State Marco Rubio and Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick said.

The signatories also include House Foreign Aff...