Baltic states' foreign ministers issue appeal on US AI export chip restrictions

Minister of Foreign Affairs Margus Tsahkna (Eesti 200), along with the foreign ministers of Latvia and Lithuania, issued a statement expressing grave concern about a recent decision by the United States to restrict exports of Artificial Intelligence (AI) chips to the Baltic states and other countries.
The minister tweeted that he was joining his Latvian and Lithuanian counterparts, Baiba Braže and Kestutis Budrys, respectively, to "express concern" about the decision from President Joe Biden's outgoing administration to restrict advanced AI chip exports to designated countries, among them European allies, including all three Baltic states.
The three foreign ministers' joint statement said: "Latvia, Estonia, and Lithuania are concerned by the U.S. administration's decision to exclude several countries from Paragraph (a) to Supplement No. 5 to Part 740 of the U.S. Framework for the Artificial Intelligence Diffusion."
"This decision risks creating artificial divisions in the EU Single Market and undermining the development of our national AI ecosystems," the statement went on. "We stand ready to work with the European Commission and the U.S. administration to address our concerns."
In a joint statement, I, @Braze_Baiba & @BudrysKestutis express concern about the U.S. administration's decision to exclude several countries from from Paragraph (a) to Supplement No. 5 to Part 740 of the U.S. Framework for the Artificial Intelligence Diffusion.
— Margus Tsahkna (@Tsahkna) January 17, 2025
pic.twitter.com/r8T8JPOylX
On Thursday, Tsahkna called the move "ungrounded, thoughtless, and harmful," not only to Estonia and other affected countries, but also to the U.S. itself.
He called as an alternative for greater international cooperation on AI rather than imposing restrictions on allies, not least because Estonia is a global tech leader, including in the area of AI.
The policy divides countries worldwide into three tiers, with Finland and most Western European nations in the top tier, meaning there are no limits on AI chip purchases.
Estonia and 16 other EU nations, chiefly in the Central and East European region but also including Switzerland, are in "tier two," meaning they face new limits on AI chip purchases. Ukraine, too, is a "tier two" nation under the new U.S. policy.

Outside of Europe, Canada, Japan, South Korea, Australia, and New Zealand remain in "tier one."
Countries in tier three, meaning a total ban on AI chip exports from the U.S., include China, the Russian Federation, Belarus, and also some countries in the Middle East, Southeast Asia, North and Central Africa, and Latin America.
Estonia is continuing to work with U.S. authorities and the European Commission to address the issue further.
Tsahkna on Thursday spoke about the US decision and its impact on Europe with Henna Virkunen, Executive Vice-president of the European Commission for technological sovereignty, security and democracy.
Estonian IT expert Luukas Kristjan Ilves, who is advising Ukraine on digital transformation, also on Thursday noted the U.S. likely made the move as part of an aim to maintain its AI leadership, especially in relation to China.
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Editor: Andrew Whyte, Helen Wright