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.

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Photo of Holly Fechner Holly Fechner

Holly Fechner advises clients on complex public policy matters that combine legal and political opportunities and risks. She leads teams that represent companies, entities, and organizations in significant policy and regulatory matters before Congress and the Executive Branch.

She is a co-chair of…

Holly Fechner advises clients on complex public policy matters that combine legal and political opportunities and risks. She leads teams that represent companies, entities, and organizations in significant policy and regulatory matters before Congress and the Executive Branch.

She is a co-chair of the Covington’s Technology Industry Group and a member of the Covington Political Action Committee board of directors.

Holly works with clients to:

Develop compelling public policy strategies
Research law and draft legislation and policy
Draft testimony, comments, fact sheets, letters and other documents
Advocate before Congress and the Executive Branch
Form and manage coalitions
Develop communications strategies

She is the Executive Director of Invent Together and a visiting lecturer at the Harvard Kennedy School of Government. She serves on the board of directors of the American Constitution Society.

Holly served as Policy Director for Senator Edward M. Kennedy (D-MA) and Chief Labor and Pensions Counsel for the Senate Health, Education, Labor & Pensions Committee.

She received The American Lawyer, “Dealmaker of the Year” award in 2019. The Hill named her a “Top Lobbyist” from 2013 to the present, and she has been ranked by Chambers USA – America’s Leading Business Lawyers from 2012 to the present. One client noted to Chambers: “Holly is an exceptional attorney who excels in government relations and policy discussions. She has an incisive analytical skill set which gives her the capability of understanding extremely complex legal and institutional matters.” According to another client surveyed by Chambers, “Holly is incredibly intelligent, effective and responsive. She also leads the team in a way that brings out everyone’s best work.”

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Photo of Matthew Shapanka Matthew Shapanka

Matthew Shapanka practices at the intersection of law, policy, and politics. He advises clients before Congress, state legislatures, and government agencies, helping businesses to navigate complex legislative, regulatory, and investigations matters, mitigate their legal, political, and reputational risks, and capture business opportunities.

Drawing…

Matthew Shapanka practices at the intersection of law, policy, and politics. He advises clients before Congress, state legislatures, and government agencies, helping businesses to navigate complex legislative, regulatory, and investigations matters, mitigate their legal, political, and reputational risks, and capture business opportunities.

Drawing on more than 15 years of experience on Capitol Hill and in private practice, state government, and political campaigns, Matt develops and executes complex, multifaceted public policy initiatives for clients seeking actions by Congress, state legislatures, and federal and state government agencies. He regularly counsels and represents businesses in legislative and regulatory matters involving intellectual property, national security, regulation of critical and emerging technologies like artificial intelligence, connected and autonomous vehicles, and other tech policy issues. He also represents clients facing congressional investigations or inquiries across a range of committees and subject matters.

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 before the Committee, particularly federal election and campaign finance law, Federal Election Commission nominations, and oversight of the legislative branch. Most significantly, Matt led the Committee’s staff work on the Electoral Count Reform Act – a landmark bipartisan law that updates the procedures for certifying and counting votes in presidential elections—and the Committee’s bipartisan joint investigation (with the Homeland Security Committee) into the security planning and response to the January 6th attack.

Both in Congress and at Covington, Matt has prepared dozens of corporate and nonprofit executives, academics, government officials, and presidential nominees for testimony at congressional committee hearings and depositions. He is a skilled legislative drafter who has composed dozens of bills and amendments introduced in Congress and state legislatures, including several that have been enacted into law across multiple policy areas. Matt also leads the firm’s state policy practice, advising clients on complex multistate legislative and regulatory matters and managing state-level advocacy efforts.

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, and the election and political laws of states and municipalities across the country.

Before law school, Matt served in the administration of former Governor Deval Patrick (D-MA) as a research analyst in the Massachusetts Recovery & Reinvestment Office, where he worked on policy, communications, and compliance matters for federal economic recovery funding awarded to the state. He has also staffed federal, state, and local political candidates in Massachusetts and New Hampshire.

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