Trump Administration Pushes Out Key Officials Focused on China Tech Threat
Departing staffers worked for a Commerce Department office charged with protecting the U.S. from Chinese technological advances
- Two officials from the Commerce Department’s OICTS, focused on countering Chinese tech threats, were dismissed amid concerns of a softening U.S. stance.
- Liz Cannon, OICTS executive director, resigned after a pressure campaign; her deputy was placed on administrative leave last week.
- The OICTS officials were instrumental in establishing a rule restricting internet-connected vehicles linked to China or Russia because of data-security risks.
The Trump administration pushed out two officials focused on neutralizing technological threats from China, people familiar with the matter said, in the latest dismissals of key personnel working on national-security issues tied to Beijing.
The departures, from an office within the Commerce Department’s Bureau of Industry and Security, alarmed some U.S. officials and security hawks already concerned with what they described as the Trump administration’s softening stance toward China as trade talks between the two sides continue.
President Trump recently agreed to sell Nvidia artificial-intelligence chips to Chinese customers. He dismissed several members of the National Security Council last year, and officials within BIS working on China-related matters also departed.
The latest losses were within the bureau’s Office of Information and Communications Technology and Services. Set up by the first Trump administration, it has been described by many Republicans and Democrats as showing promise in limiting China’s technological and economic advances that could harm U.S. national security. The OICTS is broadly charged with securing U.S. technology supply chains and communications infrastructure, and protecting Americans’ data from adversaries.
On Wednesday, Liz Cannon, the executive director of the OICTS, submitted her resignation, the culmination of a pressure campaign by senior officials to get her to leave, people familiar with the matter said. Her announced departure follows the exit of one of her deputies, who was put on administrative leave last week, the people said.
A spokeswoman for BIS didn’t respond to a request for comment.
Cannon was appointed under the Biden administration, which implemented a range of punitive actions on China and technology issues, including tough export controls on American semiconductors and restrictions on Chinese companies doing business in the U.S. Cannon didn’t respond to requests for comment.
Both OICTS officials were integral in establishing a rule last year that widely restricts the import and sale of internet-connected passenger vehicles and related hardware and software with links to China or Russia. The rule was enacted after the office had established that the potential to share data from the cars posed a national-security risk.
A senior Commerce Department official said new leadership has been selected and will be announced within a week.
The office hadn’t announced additional new rules in the past year despite progress on investigations of other Chinese technologies. Priorities for Cannon’s team included possible restrictions on sales by Chinese router maker TP-Link and activity by telecommunications companies China Telecom and China Unicom, some of the people said. A rule restricting sales and imports of China- and Russia-linked heavy trucks and buses in the U.S., which the office had signaled would quickly follow the rule on passenger vehicles, has yet to materialize.
That inactivity is consistent with the Trump administration’s pause on an array of punitive actions toward China as the president aims to tamp down the trade conflict with Beijing. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said in media interviews this week that the U.S. relationship with China has reached a “very good equilibrium.”
The senior Commerce official said OICTS is implementing the Chinese connected-vehicles rule, and will continue to address national security risks.