China’s Ministry of Commerce has lashed out at Washington’s latest guidance on advanced artificial intelligence chip exports, accusing the United States of abusing export controls and disrupting the global semiconductor supply chain.

But trade lawyers and industry insiders said the actual fallout over the new document could be far more limited than the geopolitical fireworks suggest.

The US Bureau of Industry and Security (BIS) issued guidance on May 31, stating licences would be required to export advanced computing items to entities headquartered in mainland China or Macau – or whose parent companies are based there – even when those entities operate outside Chinese territory.

The move has triggered intense industry scrutiny. Increasingly blocked from accessing Nvidia’s top-tier silicon at home, Chinese tech firms have pivoted overseas, turning to data centres in Southeast Asia to secure the computing power needed to train next-generation AI models.

Here is what you need to know about Washington’s latest regulatory salvo.

Is this a new restriction?

Not exactly.