Trump's Own Weapon Backfires as America Faces Embarrassment
Jakarta, CNBC Indonesia - The Donald Trump administration has, all this time, pursued a ‘protectionist’ policy in the export of American-made technology overseas, particularly to China. This is attributed to concerns that China would use its technology to strengthen its military.
The tightest export controls are on artificial intelligence (AI) chips. This policy has already caused US chip giant Nvidia to lose one of its biggest markets.
On the other hand, Trump’s policy has effectively backfired. Thanks to the export controls, China has been keen to develop its domestic AI chip industry. China’s priority is clear: to reduce dependence on technology from the United States.
As its dominance in the AI sector comes under pressure, Trump has realised the importance of opening access abroad. On Thursday (21 May) local time, according to a document seen by Reuters, the Trump administration plans to launch a new programme to persuade foreign companies to buy American-made AI devices with export financing worth billions of dollars.
This plan is the latest US effort to defeat China in the race to expand the use of its technology around the world, Reuters reported on Friday (22 May 2026).
The US Export-Import Bank (EXIM) is expected to approve the plan in the near future. EXIM would provide financing for foreign purchases of American-made AI devices, according to a one-page programme description viewed by Reuters.
Under the programme, the US Department of Commerce must approve a special licence for sensitive AI technologies, such as advanced chips like those made by Nvidia, before the financing deal can be signed.
EXIM’s financial support would include insurance and loan guarantees for mid-term transactions and direct loans, as well as loan guarantees for long-term deals, the document states.
“The AI export initiative strengthens the US AI leadership by modernising EXIM’s financing tools and supporting the export of trusted US AI technology across future industries,” the document said.
It remains unclear which countries and companies would benefit from the new programme. What is certain is that the move shows the Trump administration regards the global export of US AI as important to winning the AI race against China.
Last month, China’s DeepSeek released a free open-source AI model designed specifically for Huawei-made chips. According to some AI supporters, this move shows China is seeking to win global influence in both hardware and software used to build AI systems.
The DeepSeek model has been widely used over the past year because it can compete with US-origin AI models, despite some US companies accusing DeepSeek of exploiting their technology.
Since the Biden administration, the US has banned access to advanced AI chips made by Nvidia and AMD. This has opened up new opportunities for China and many countries regarded as high-risk to channel valuable technology to China.