China hawk to be picked for key US Commerce Dept job, sources say
Feb 12 (Reuters) - President Donald Trump plans to nominate Landon Heid, who served on the staff of the House of Representatives' Select Committee on China, for a key post in the U.S.-China tech battle, according to people familiar with the matter.
Heid, a China hawk who helped set technology policy for the congressional committee, is being tapped to be assistant secretary of Commerce for export administration, the people said. As such, he would help design export controls to keep AI chips, the equipment to make them and other technology from China and other countries.
Heid was behind a drumbeat of actions by the committee to combat what it sees as China's threat to U.S. national security.
Last month, the committee came out in support of a strong global licensing regime to control the development of artificial intelligence just before the Commerce Department published a rule to tighten the U.S. grip on AI chip flows across the globe.
The rule, which is scheduled to take effect in May, could be changed by the Trump administration.
Heid was behind a push last year to restrict business with BGI, WuXi Apptec (603259.SS), opens new tab, WuXi Biologics (2269.HK), opens new tab and other Chinese biotech firms. Though proposed legislation gained momentum in the last Congress, it did not pass.
The White House did not immediately respond to a request for comment. Nor did Heid.
If confirmed, Heid is expected to report to Jeffrey Kessler, a Washington trade lawyer nominated as under secretary for the Commerce Department's Bureau of Industry and Security (BIS). Reuters first reported that Kessler was under consideration.
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