Export Controls and Export Promotion
How strategic promotion of American AI abroad can protect the homeland.
Washington has made it clear that retaining AI dominance over China is both an economic and national security imperative. In November 2024, the U.S.-China Economic and Security Review Commission recommended a “Manhattan Project-like program” to achieve artificial general intelligence (AGI) before China.1 Two months later, the Stargate project was announced, mobilizing $500 billion in private capital to strengthen American AI infrastructure and energy production.2 President Trump’s January 23 Executive Order left no doubt: “It is the policy of the United States to sustain and enhance America’s global AI dominance.”3
Alongside steps taken to strengthen the domestic AI industry, Washington has also imposed increasingly stringent controls on exports of AI chips and semiconductor manufacturing equipment to China. Initially formulated during President Trump’s first term, these restrictions have since expanded.4 The second Trump administration is expected to tighten them further.5
These two approaches – strengthening the domestic AI sector and securing key AI resources from Chinese access – form the backbone of America’s AI strategy. Yet, alone, they may not be enough to sustain American leadership in what is arguably the most consequential technology of our time.
Under President Trump, a third pillar must be established: strategic promotion — active efforts to position American AI and compute as the default for international markets critical to U.S. national security and economic competitiveness. This means financing compute infrastructure, providing training and technical assistance for AI adoption at scale, and securing trade agreements that encourage reliance on trusted American AI and cloud providers while enforcing strong security standards.
This approach complements the ‘strengthen and secure’ core of U.S. AI policy by proactively exporting and embedding key American AI technologies in strategically important parts of the world. Done right, strategic promotion can bolster America’s economic power, limit China’s ability to seize new markets, promote democratic values overseas, and forge international partnerships aligned with the U.S. vision for AI leadership and governance.
