When President Trump talked tough about China’s economic impact on America during the campaign, he criticized its trade policies and its approach to its currency.

Yet one of the first pieces of legislation under the Trump administration that could have a major impact on the economic relationship between the two countries centers on something different: Chinese deal making in the United States.

White House officials and a group of lawmakers on both sides of the aisle are pushing for new laws intended in part to keep closer tabs on the surge of Chinese money into America. Some in Washington say that money could help China expand its technological and military abilities. While any legislation would face congressional debate and review, a large number of Trump administration employees who deal with both trade and national security have said they support some sort of overhaul of how the United States vets such deals.

The push would expand the powers of a little-known but important panel — the Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States, or Cfius — that can effectively block foreign deals for American companies on national security grounds. In particular, it could reshape the ways American technology companies, big and small, raise money from Chinese investors.