US lawmakers win the legislation aimed at preventing China from acquiring sensitive US technology

Lawmakers pushing legislation aimed at preventing China from acquiring sensitive U.S. technology have proposed relaxing elements of the measure after lobbying by high-tech firms but will tighten another portion, according to a draft revision seen by Reuters.[caption id="attachment_4342935" align="alignleft" width="380"] Representational image. Reuters[/caption]The bill in the Senate and a companion measure in the U.S. House of Representatives would broaden the reach of the inter-agency Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States (CFIUS) in hopes of halting Chinese efforts to acquire sophisticated U.S. technology. The bipartisan legislation has the support of President Donald Trump’s administration.Tech companies criticised the original legislation amid concerns it could limit or slow their exports, which in 2016 totalled $153 billion, according to World Bank data.Among the companies lobbying for the changes were Google parent Alphabet Inc Facebook Inc, IBM Corp, Intel Corp, Qualcomm Inc and a long list of other hardware and software companies.CFIUS has gone from virtually unknown several years ago to front-page news this month as one of its probes resulted in Trump forbidding chipmaker Broadcom, which is in the process of moving back to the United States, from buying rival Qualcomm.A technology industry group said the original bill broadened CFIUS’ reach so much that companies that sell sensitive technology could potentially be forced to go before the panel to have any sale reviewed, even the most uncontroversial.They also argued that some technology transfers were already reviewed by other U.S. agencies. Josh Kallmer, senior vice president for global policy for the Information Technology Industry Council, said the changes were positive.“We see this as a huge step in the right direction both atmospherically and substantively,” he said.