The US has frozen restrictions on technology exports to China to avoid hurting trade talks with Beijing and help President Donald Trump secure a meeting with President Xi Jinping this year, according to people familiar with the matter. The commerce department’s Bureau of Industry and Security, which runs export controls, has been told in recent months to avoid tough moves on China, according to eight people, including current and former US officials. US and Chinese officials will meet in Stockholm on Monday for a third round of trade talks following previous meetings in Geneva and London. While Trump wants to avoid actions that could hurt efforts to meet Xi, some officials have argued that the US is hamstrung on export controls because of the risk that China retaliates by restricting the export to the US of critical rare earths and magnets, as it did in May for the first time. Earlier this year, Trump was poised to restrict technology exports to China. In April, his team told Nvidia it would block the export of its H20 chip, which was designed for the Chinese market after the Biden administration restricted more advanced chips. But Trump reversed course following direct lobbying from Nvidia chief executive Jensen Huang. The H20 has become the focus of a battle between security officials, who say the chip will help the Chinese military, and Nvidia, which says blocking US technology exports forces Chinese groups to accelerate innovation.

Full report : The US freezes tech export curbs on China to avoid disrupting trade talks and help President Trump secure a 2025 meeting with President Xi Jinping.