The industry and security bureau of the commerce department, which oversees export controls, has been told in recent months to avoid tough moves on China, the newspaper said, citing current and former officials.

Reuters could not immediately verify the report. The White House and the department did not respond to Reuters’ requests for comment outside business hours.

Top US and Chinese economic officials are set to resume talks in Stockholm today to tackle long-standing economic disputes at the centre of a trade war between the world’s top two economies.

Tech giant Nvidia said this month it would resume sales of its H20 graphics processing units (GPUs) to China, reversing an export curb the Trump administration imposed in April to keep advanced artificial intelligence (AI) chips out of Chinese hands over national security concerns.

“The planned resumption was part of US negotiations on rare earths and magnets,” commerce secretary Howard Lutnick said.

The paper said 20 security experts and former officials, including former deputy US national security adviser Matt Pottinger, will write today to Lutnick to voice concern, however.

“This move represents a strategic misstep that endangers the US’ economic and military edge in AI,” they write in the letter, it added.