Deputy Treasury Secretary Wally Adeyemo said Nov. 7 the Treasury Department hopes to propose a rule “in the coming weeks” to implement the president’s executive order prohibiting investments in certain Chinese technology sectors.

“I think the president and his counterparts across the G7 have made very clear that our goal is not to decouple but rather to derisk the relationship with China,” Adeyemo said at the Securities Industry and Financial Markets Association’s annual meeting.

On Aug. 9, President Joe Biden issued an executive order prohibiting new private equity, venture capital and joint venture investments, among others, in Chinese companies involved in the semiconductors and microelectronics, quantum information technologies and artificial intelligence sectors.

The order also directs the Treasury to issue a rule for implementation, and the department issued an advance notice of proposed rule-making the same day as the Aug. 9 order.

In response, industry groups and lawyers have asked the Treasury to clarify the nuances of the rule, including how it applies to U.S. citizens working for offshore companies.

Adeyemo said he appreciated the industry input, and “our hope is that in the coming weeks, we’ll be in a position where we propose a rule.”

Once a rule is proposed, he said, the financial industry can again “provide us with feedback on what we got right, what we can improve, and where you need clarity; and then hopefully we’ll go from there to finalization quite quickly.”

Adeyemo added that the Treasury is discussing the order with other countries, as “part of our goal has been to make sure we’re coming alongside our allies and partners to take actions here as well.”

The U.S. Chamber of Commerce, in a comment letter to the Treasury, suggested “there should be multilateral coordination with other allies on outbound screening” as well.

Separately, the deputy secretary discussed his view on digital assets.

“We need to build a regulatory framework for digital assets that in many ways looks similar to (and) matches the protections that we’ve put in place when it comes to other assets,” Adeyemo said, which includes ensuring the assets are not used for illicit purposes.

This means there is a need for congressional action, he said, but the Treasury can and does use its authority to help prevent the use of digital assets for illicit finance as well.