Since taking office, President Trump has issued dozens of executive orders, many addressing key technology policy areas that include international trade and investment, artificial intelligence (AI),  connected vehicles and drones, and trade controls.  Some of these executive actions reverse the previous administration’s efforts on these issues—such as the order revoking President Biden’s October 2023 executive order on Safe, Secure, and Trustworthy Development and Use of Artificial Intelligence—and others initiate a formal review process, suggesting the Trump Administration will preserve, and perhaps strengthen or enhance, key tech policies implemented by the Biden Administration and the first Trump term.  

Several of the executive actions President Trump has taken so far offer important opportunities for stakeholders to weigh in with Executive Branch agencies as they consider next steps, including whether to revoke, expand, or retain tech policies initiated under President Biden. Key initiatives include: 

America First Trade Policy

The President’s America First Trade Policy memorandum, issued on January 20, directs certain federal agencies to review policies issued by the Biden Administration.  The memo does not provide specifically for public comment opportunities with respect to these policy reviews, but it provides insight into how the Administration may modify Biden Administration policy actions.  We recommend that interested stakeholders engage to share their views with the Administration.  Three critical areas in particular will affect stakeholders across tech industries:

  • China and Intellectual Property: Section 3(e) of the memo directs the Commerce Secretary to the assess the status of United States intellectual property rights such as patents, copyrights, and trademarks conferred upon PRC persons” and to “make recommendations to ensure reciprocal and balanced treatment of intellectual property rights with the PRC.” 
  • Connected Vehicles:  Section 4(d) The memo directs the Commerce Secretary to “review and recommend appropriate action with respect to the rulemaking by the Office of Information and Communication Technology and Services (ICTS) on connected vehicles.”  The memo specifically directs the Secretary to consider whether ICTS controls should be “expanded to account for additional connected products.”
  • Outbound Investment:  Section 4(e) of the President’s memo directs the Treasury Secretary, in consultation with the Commerce Secretary, to review whether President Biden’s outbound executive order “should be modified or rescinded and replaced,” and to “assess whether the [Treasury Department outbound investment regulation] includes sufficient controls to address national security threats.”  This review dovetails with the President’s America First Investment Policy memo, issued on February 21, which equates U.S. national security and U.S. economic security, and directs agencies to streamline regulatory reviews to promote foreign investment in the United States.

It is clear from the America First Trade Policy that the Trump Administration views investment restrictions, supply chain security, and IP protections as critical to U.S. global technology leadership and is prepared to take aggressive actions in each of these policy areas. 

Notably, the outbound investment and connected vehicle rules were finalized during the Biden Administration following a public notice-and-comment period.  The Trump Administration is not considering eliminating these rules, but rather assessing whether the outbound investment regulations are “sufficient . . . to address national security threats” and whether the CV rule should be “expanded” to additional products and technologies.  In other words, the Administration’s review of these policies does not suggest a reversal of the Biden-era approach, but an effort to consider whether to further leverage investment restrictions and trade controls to attempt to slow the growth of critical and emerging technologies outside the United States.

The policy reviews under the America First Trade Policy memo must be submitted to the President by April 1, 2025.

AI Action Plan Request for Information

Following the President’s revocation of the October 23, 2023 AI Executive Order, the National Science Foundation (NSF) and the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy (OSTP) issued a request for information (RFI) on the development of a new “AI Action Plan.”  The RFI seeks “concrete” suggestions for policy actions “needed to sustain and enhance America’s AI dominance, and to ensure that unnecessarily burdensome requirements do not hamper private sector AI innovation.”  The RFI does not include specific policy proposals for comment, but rather invites stakeholders to suggest policy priorities across a range of AI-related topics, including hardware and chips, data centers, energy consumption and efficiency, model development, explainability and assurance of AI model outputs, cybersecurity, data privacy and security, risks, regulation and governance, technical and safety standards, national security and defense, research and development, education and workforce, innovation and competition, intellectual property, procurement, international collaboration, and export controls. Comments are due on March 15, 2025.

AI Diffusion Rule

On January 15, at the end of the Biden Administration, the Commerce Department’s Bureau of Industry and Security (BIS) released its AI Diffusion Framework.  Together with a separate interim final rule on Implementation of Additional Due Diligence Measures for Advanced Computing Integrated Circuits, the AI Diffusion Framework, among other things:

  • Established a worldwide license requirement for certain advanced chips and related items subject to the Export Administration Regulations, and associated software and technology, as well as for non-public model weights for certain advanced AI models;
  • Implemented a three-tiered licensing framework applicable to exports, reexports, and in-country transfers of advanced chips;
  • Created a rebuttable presumption that certain advanced logic chips exported, reexported, or transferred (in-country) by a front-end fabricator or an Outside Semiconductor Assembly and Test (“OSAT”) company are subject to export controls and designed or marketed for use in datacenters and imposed certain due diligence and reporting requirements on front-end fabricators.

While BIS published the Framework as an interim final rule with immediate effect, the agency also requested public comment on the rule, with comments due on May 15, 2025.

Foreign Direct Product Rule

In December 2024, BIS also published an interim final rule (and request for comment) on export controls on advanced computing and semiconductor manufacturing items.  This rule adds new export controls for high-bandwidth memory chips, semiconductor manufacturing equipment, and associated software and technology, as well as expands the foreign direct product rule to cover certain non-U.S.-made semiconductor manufacturing equipment and related items.  Comments are due to BIS by March 14, 2025.

Photo of Holly Fechner Holly Fechner

Holly Fechner has two decades of legal, legislative and public policy experience in the public and private sectors.  Ms. Fechner has a broad-based practice handling legislative and regulatory matters for clients in areas including healthcare, tax, intellectual property, education, and employee benefits.  Drawing…

Holly Fechner has two decades of legal, legislative and public policy experience in the public and private sectors.  Ms. Fechner has a broad-based practice handling legislative and regulatory matters for clients in areas including healthcare, tax, intellectual property, education, and employee benefits.  Drawing on her extensive congressional and private sector experience, Ms. Fechner offers clients comprehensive advocacy services, including strategic advice, substantive legal and regulatory expertise, and policy and message development.  She has a proven track record in assisting clients fulfill their government affairs goals.

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Matthew Shapanka

Matthew Shapanka draws on more than 15 years of experience – including on Capitol Hill, at Covington, and in state government – to advise and counsel clients across a range of industries on significant legislative, regulatory, and enforcement matters. He develops and executes…

Matthew Shapanka draws on more than 15 years of experience – including on Capitol Hill, at Covington, and in state government – to advise and counsel clients across a range of industries on significant legislative, regulatory, and enforcement matters. He develops and executes complex, multifaceted public policy initiatives for clients seeking actions by Congress, state legislatures, and federal and state government agencies, many with significant legal and political opportunities and risks.

Matt rejoined Covington after serving as Chief Counsel for the U.S. Senate Committee on Rules and Administration, where he advised Chairwoman Amy Klobuchar (D-MN) on all legal, policy, and oversight matters within the Committee’s jurisdiction, including federal election law and campaign finance, and oversight of the Federal Election Commission, legislative branch agencies, security and maintenance of the U.S. Capitol Complex, and Senate rules and regulations.

Most significantly, Matt led the Rules Committee staff work on the Electoral Count Reform and Presidential Transition Improvement Act – landmark bipartisan legislation to update the antiquated process of certifying and counting electoral votes in presidential elections that President Biden signed into law in 2022.

As Chief Counsel, Matt was a lead attorney on the joint bipartisan investigation (with the Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee) into the security planning and response to the January 6, 2021 attack on the Capitol. In that role, he oversaw the collection review of documents, led interviews and depositions of key government officials, advised the Chairwoman and Committee members on two high-profile joint hearings, and drafted substantial portions of the Committees’ staff report on the attack. He also led oversight of the Capitol Police, Architect of the Capitol, Senate Sergeant at Arms, and executive branch agencies involved in implementing the Committees’ recommendations, including additional legislation and hearings.

Both in Congress and at the firm, Matt has prepared many corporate and nonprofit executives, academics, government officials, and presidential nominees for testimony at legislative, oversight, or nomination hearings before congressional committees, as well as witnesses appearing at congressional depositions and transcribed interviews. He is also an experienced legislative drafter who has composed dozens of bills introduced in Congress and state legislatures, including several that have been enacted into law across multiple policy areas.

In addition to his policy work, Matt advises and represents clients on the full range of political law compliance and enforcement matters involving federal election, campaign finance, lobbying, and government ethics laws, the Securities and Exchange Commission’s “Pay-to-Play” rule, as well as the election and political laws of states and municipalities across the country.

Before law school, Matt worked as a research analyst in the Massachusetts Recovery & Reinvestment Office, where he worked on all aspects of state-level policy, communications, and compliance for federal stimulus funding awarded to Massachusetts under the American Recovery & Reinvestment Act of 2009. He has also worked for federal, state, and local political candidates in Massachusetts and New Hampshire.

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