Treasury proposal targets selected high-tech investments in countries of concern

Proposed rule would cover AI, supercomputing, biotechnology and hypersonic systems

WASHINGTON — The U.S. Treasury Department proposed a rule on Thursday to restrict American investments in high-tech sectors in China, Russia, North Korea and other “countries of concern,” according to the Associated Press. The proposal is the latest step in a government effort the administration says is designed to keep U.S. capital from helping adversaries build military power.

The rule announced Thursday would expand the restrictions to cover investments in hypersonic systems capable of traveling at five times the speed of sound, supercomputing, biotechnology and artificial intelligence, though Treasury used the president’s favored term for AI, “superintelligence” or SI. It would apply only to investments that exceed $50,000 and would exclude many financial investments, including stock purchases.

The program dates to 2023, when then-President Joe Biden signed an executive order placing restrictions on outbound U.S. investments in sectors such as semiconductors, quantum computing and artificial intelligence in China. Treasury later established the Outbound Investment Security Program, and the U.S. government has said it has worked for years to deny China and other adversaries investments that could help them boost their military power.

In December 2025, Congress passed a law that codified and expanded the program to target more technologies and more foreign countries, including Cuba, Iran, North Korea and Russia. The proposed rule is Treasury’s effort to implement that law, the Comprehensive Outbound Investment National Security Act.

The inclusion of Russia comes days after President Donald Trump waived sanctions on Russia following a diesel deal with President Vladimir Putin.

Treasury will hear public comments on the proposal before issuing a final rule. Ryan Majerus, a former U.S. trade official now a partner at the King & Spalding law firm, said the proposal was “just the first step in a fairly long process to get to changes which presumably will be more enforcement-minded, to put more teeth behind the outbound investment program.”

Craig Singleton, a senior fellow at the think tank Foundation for Defense of Democracies, said the proposed rule “sends an important signal to markets that Washington is tracking where U.S. capital is flowing and what capabilities it is helping build.” Singleton also said the screening of outbound investments “recognizes that capital can accelerate military-relevant capabilities just as surely as technology transfer can.”

Jason Chipman, a former Justice Department lawyer who specializes in cybersecurity, investment rules and export controls as a partner at the law firm WilmerHale, said the rule “will require more substantial compliance programs to manage risk.”

In Beijing, the Chinese Foreign Ministry said the United States should abide by the principles of a market economy and stop interfering in normal economic and trade cooperation between businesses. Asked about Washington’s proposal to add biotechnology to the list, ministry spokesperson Mao Ning said that “Overstretching the concept of national security, taking discriminatory measures against specific countries, and artificially restricting trade, economic and investment activities serve no one’s interests.” Mao Ning said China will closely monitor relevant developments and take necessary measures to safeguard its interests.

Since Trump’s first term, the United States and China, the world’s two biggest economies, have been locked in an economic and technology rivalry. The two countries have restricted exports of sensitive technology and critical products, including China’s rare earth minerals and America’s advanced computer chips, and have imposed tariffs on each other’s products. Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping agreed last year to ease tensions during talks, a temporary truce they extended last month into January.

The sparring has continued. In July, the Treasury Department issued a $200,000 fine against a U.S.-based company for failing to report to the department a $92,500 investment in a Chinese artificial intelligence and robotics company by one of its subsidiaries.