Ahead of the Donald Trump–Xi Jinping meeting scheduled for April, the Trump administration has reportedly paused several critical technology security measures targeting China.
The paused actions include prohibiting China Telecom from operating in the U.S. and limiting the sale of Chinese-made equipment to U.S. data centers, reported Reuters on Friday.
Also on hold are proposed bans on domestic sales of routers produced by TP-Link, restrictions on the U.S. internet businesses of China Unicom and China Mobile, and a rule blocking the sale of Chinese electric trucks and buses in the U.S.
The measures have been suspended following an October trade truce between the two presidents. As part of the agreement, China also pledged to delay export restrictions on rare-earth minerals vital to global tech manufacturing.
The Chinese Embassy opposed politicizing trade and technology issues, while welcoming U.S. cooperation and expressing hope that 2026 would bring strategic collaboration.
White House did not immediately respond to Benzinga‘s request for comment.
Tech War Persists Despite Pause
The recent decision to suspend key tech security measures could be seen as an attempt to ease tensions ahead of the April summit, where the U.S. and China are expected to extend their trade truce by up to a year. The paused measures were initially designed to block Beijing from accessing sensitive U.S. data, stealing intellectual property, or infiltrating critical infrastructure systems.
The report follows closely after Texas Governor Greg Abbott imposed a sweeping ban in January, prohibiting state employees from using Chinese-linked products and services, including those from Shein, Temu, Alibaba Group Holdings (NYSE:BABA), and TP-Link on state-owned devices and networks.
However, the tech rivalry between the world’s top two economies seems far from over. Earlier this month, the Trump administration launched Project Vault, a $12 billion public-private partnership aimed at decoupling American industry from Chinese mineral supply chains. The same month, China announced plans to bolster its space-based computing presence, heating the U.S.-China space race.
Disclaimer: This content was partially produced with the help of AI tools and was reviewed and published by Benzinga editors.
Image via Shutterstock
