SCALE Act Introduced

Rep. John Moolenaar introduced a bill on April 15 that would set a formula for which advanced chips can be sold to China. (congress.gov) The measure is H.R. 8306, the Semiconductor Controls Adjusted to Limit Exports Act, or SCALE Act. Moolenaar’s committee announced it on April 21, and the bill was referred to the House Foreign Affairs and Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence. (chinaselectcommittee.house.gov) (congress.gov) The bill would require the Commerce Department and the director of national intelligence to create a “rolling annual standard” for sales of certain integrated circuits to countries of concern. The text says the standard must be based on public performance metrics and set within 180 days of enactment. (congress.gov) In plain terms, the proposal tries to replace one-off licensing fights with a benchmark tied to what China and other U.S. adversaries can already make themselves. Moolenaar’s office said exports would be allowed only up to 110% of the performance of chips an adversary can produce domestically in significant quantities. (chinaselectcommittee.house.gov) (exportcompliancedaily.com) The bill also sets a second limit aimed at scale, not just chip speed. Export Compliance Daily reported that license applications would face a presumption of denial if a sale would push adversary-controlled artificial intelligence hardware above 5% of the total U.S. artificial intelligence hardware base. (exportcompliancedaily.com) Washington has been tightening semiconductor controls on China since 2018, with the stated goal of slowing China’s access to advanced chips, chipmaking capacity, and related artificial intelligence uses. A September 2025 Congressional Research Service report says the controls are part of a broader effort to preserve U.S. leadership in advanced computing while limiting military-related uses in China. (congress.gov) That debate has split policymakers and industry for months. The same Congressional Research Service report says some stakeholders want looser rules to keep Chinese buyers dependent on U.S. firms, while others argue that easing controls would help China close gaps in advanced chips. (congress.gov) Moolenaar has been pushing Congress toward tighter chip rules this month, not just on finished processors but also on the tools used to make them. On April 2, lawmakers introduced the MATCH Act, a separate bill to restrict certain semiconductor manufacturing equipment exports and align controls with allies such as Japan and the Netherlands. (congress.gov) (usnews.com) The SCALE Act still has to move through committee and pass both chambers before any of its formulas become law. For now, it puts a number on a policy fight that has largely been argued case by case. (congress.gov)