US senator urges help for Malaysia to curb chip smuggling
A US Republican senator is asking US President Donald Trump’s administration to help the Malaysian government prevent US artificial intelligence chips from being smuggled through the country to China, according to a letter seen by Reuters.
Reuters has previously reported that US officials believe Malaysia is among a handful of countries where organised smuggling operations have worked to get US chips into China that would otherwise be banned from export to China.
Senator Tom Cotton, an Arkansas Republican, wrote a letter to US commerce secretary Howard Lutnick saying Malaysian officials had begun cracking down on such activity and the Trump administration should aid Malaysian officials in the effort by helping the country develop screening programs to ensure chips are not being diverted to…
