Trump dismisses reports about new curbs on Chinese tech investment

US President Donald Trump seemed to suggest on Tuesday that he would scrap plans for new restrictions on Chinese investment in US technology and will rely on the Committee for Foreign Investment in the United States (CFIUS) for the purpose.

Asked "What are you looking at in terms of Chinese investment restrictions?" by reporters at the White House, Trump said, "Well, it's not just Chinese."

He said the US has "the greatest technology in the world", and "We have to protect that and that can be done through CFIUS."

CFIUS is an interagency panel that considers national security implications of foreign acquisitions of US businesses.

The US House of Representatives passed legislation on Tuesday to strengthen the authority of CFIUS by a 400-2 vote.

The president called recent reports by The Wall Street Journal and Bloomberg regarding new investment restrictions, in addition to CFIUS, "a bad leak…probably they just made up the story".

The president's remarks echoed a statement by his Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin, who said on Monday that any restrictions would not be aimed solely at China but at "all countries that are trying to steal our technology".

Mnuchin also said that media reports detailing plans to impose restrictions on Chinese investment in US companies and on tech exports to China were "false, fake news".

Mnuchin would prefer to use new tools associated with pending legislation to enhance security reviews of transactions by the CFIUS, some administration officials have said, Reuters reported on Tuesday.

"I think that Trump believes that the CFIUS mechanism is enough -- At least for now," Jon Taylor, a professor of political science of the University of St. Thomas in Houston, told China Daily.