Separately, the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) added over 80 firms, including China's JD.com, to a list of entities facing possible expulsion from American exchanges amid a long-running auditing standoff between the US and China.

The Senate completed votes on more than two dozen motions addressing a range of issues, including Iran policy. Although the motions are not binding, they convey a sense of what senators would like to see in the final bill and what could keep it from getting enough votes to become law.

House and Senate lawmakers will now begin formal negotiations through a process known as a conference committee to hammer out a bill that can pass both chambers. Talks could last for months, congressional aides say.

With Democrats narrowly controlling the House of Representatives and Senate, Republicans used some motions to weigh in on President Joe Biden's efforts to return to the international nuclear deal with Iran and win approval with support from some Democrats.

Republicans unanimously opposed the 2015 nuclear deal.

Late Wednesday, the Senate completed action on more than two dozen "Motions to Instruct".

Senators voted 78 to 17 against a proposal by Senator Bernie Sanders that sought to delete language that would authorize the US$10 billion development of a new lunar lander for NASA, a move seen as part of the senator's effort to nix federal funds that could go to billionaire Jeff Bezos' Blue Origin.

Senators voted 62-33 in favor of another motion that seeks to bar the Biden administration from lifting the terrorist designation for Iran's Revolutionary Guard Corps, an obstacle to reviving the nuclear pact.

The Senate also voted 86-12 on a motion arguing that terrorism-related sanctions on Iran are necessary to limit cooperation between China and Iran.

Such provisions could complicate delicate negotiations on the nuclear deal, although western officials have largely lost hope that the pact can be resurrected after then-Republican President Donald Trump abandoned it in 2018.

They also could make it more difficult to pass the chips and China competition bill, which has been working its way through Congress for nearly a year.

Another Republican-sponsored motion was approved on a 49-47 vote that would seek language to bar President Joe Biden from using climate change to declare an emergency to expand executive branch powers.

The Senate first passed a version of the semiconductor chips and China competition bill in June, with strong bipartisan support. That $250 billion bill was hailed as potentially the most significant government intervention in manufacturing in decades but stalled in the House.

The House passed a version in February that had $52 billion in chips funding but significant differences on other provisions.

 

Expanded list

On Wednesday, the SEC expanded the list on a provisional lineup under a 2020 law known as The Holding Foreign Companies Accountable Act (HFCAA), which aims to remove foreign-jurisdiction companies from US bourses if they fail to comply with American auditing standards for three years in a row.

In the long-drawn dispute, US regulators have been demanding complete access to audit working papers of New York-listed Chinese companies, which are stored in China.

The request has so far been denied by China on national security grounds, but regulators in the two countries are discussing operational details of an audit deal that Beijing hopes to sign this year.

JD.com said on Thursday it is aware that the company has been identified by the SEC under the Act, and that it has been actively exploring possible solutions.

"The company will continue to comply with applicable laws and regulations in both China and the United States, and strive to maintain its listing status on both Nasdaq and the Hong Kong Stock Exchange," JD.com said in a statement.

Other large Chinese companies that were added to the SEC's list were JinkoSolar Holding Co. Ltd., China Petroleum & Chemical Corp., Bilibili Inc. and NetEase Inc., among others.