Trump Axes Global Chip Export Ban—Tech Giants Breathe, Wall Street Yawns

In a move that’ll send semiconductor stocks mooning—and probably trigger another round of ‘strategic’ buybacks—the US administration scraps export restrictions choking the chip industry.

Silicon Relief:
Foundries from Taiwan to Texas can now ship cutting-edge chips without jumping through geopolitical hoops. TSMC’s board is already drafting thank-you notes.

The Cynic’s Corner:
Meanwhile, hedge funds that shorted chipmakers last week are now blaming ‘unforeseen macroeconomic shifts’ for their losses. Classic.

The Trump administration says it will not enforce the so-called AI diffusion rule when it takes effect on May 15, the sources said. Chipmakers such as Nvidia (NVDA) and AMD saw their stocks rise after the announcement. Nvidia climbed as much as 3.6%, and the Philadelphia Stock Exchange Semiconductor Index — a closely watched benchmark — gained as much as 2.1%.

Trump officials are reportedly working toward a new rule that would strengthen the control of chips abroad and remove the chip restrictions. “The Biden AI rule is overly complex, overly bureaucratic, and would stymie American innovation,” the Commerce Department’s Bureau of Industry and Security said in a statement released by a spokesperson. “We will be replacing it with a much simpler rule that unleashes American innovation and ensures American AI dominance.”

Bloomberg’s sources also say the Commerce Department will continue to strictly enforce chip export curbs while it develops a new rule. One element of the move to repeal the diffusion rule will be to impose chip controls on countries that have diverted chips to China, including Malaysia and Thailand, the sources added. There is no direct timeline for the effective date of rescinding the chip export restrictions.