The measure was highly detrimental to Portugal as it imposed a limit on the purchase of critical components, according to ECO.

“The AI ​​Diffusion Framework was issued on January 15, 2025, with compliance requirements that would have gone into effect on May 15, 2025. These new requirements would have hampered American innovation and burdened businesses with onerous new regulatory requirements,” the Bureau of Industry and Security (BIS) said in a statement.

This measure, implemented by former President Joe Biden in the final days of his term, is particularly important for Portugal, as the country was relegated to a second category and subject to restrictions. On the contrary, countries such as Spain, France and Italy were included in a list of 18 US “allies” exempt from limitations, particularly in the purchase of essential chips.

“The AI ​​Diffusion Framework would also have damaged U.S. diplomatic relations with dozens of countries, downgrading them to second-tier status,” the BIS notes, confirming that it “will issue a replacement rule in the future,” without elaborating.

Quoted in the same note, Jeffery Kessler, Secretary of Commerce for Industry and Security, states that “the Trump Administration will pursue a bold and inclusive strategy for American AI technology with trusted foreign countries around the world.” “At the same time, we reject the Biden Administration’s attempt to try to impose its poorly designed and counterproductive AI policies on the American people,” he emphasizes.

Although the restrictions have not yet come into force, the Spanish company Merlin Properties recently decided to divert part of the investment from Portugal to Spain that was earmarked for a new data center that the company is building in the municipality of Vila Franca de Xira, using this North American policy as justification.