“The proposed regulations would strengthen the existing Outbound Investment Security Program to prevent our adversaries from using U.S. investment to develop critical technologies that threaten U.S. national security,” Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said.

The US Treasury published the proposal on Thursday. The outbound investment rule would widen limits on American money for chips, AI and other sensitive tech. It targets China, Russia, North Korea and other “countries of concern”, the Associated Press reported.

The programme began in 2023. That year, then-President Joe Biden signed an order that limited some US investment in Chinese chips, quantum computing and AI, AP noted.

What the rule covers

The draft carries out the COINS Act, which Congress passed in its 2026 defence bill. US investors would have to tell Treasury about some deals. The rule would ban others.

The law names five sectors. They are chips, AI, quantum technology, supercomputing and hypersonic systems.…