With its share price fading, Lattice Semiconductor is considering a direct appeal to President Donald Trump in hopes of salvaging its bid to sell the Portland company to Chinese investors, according to two wire reports.

Both Reuters and Bloomberg reported that Lattice is contemplating taking the deal to the president after the Committee on Foreign Investment in the U.S. failed to make a ruling one way or another. CFIUS reviews transactions for potential national security implications, and it's near the end of a third, 75-day review period for Lattice's proposed deal.

Lattice, Portland's largest tech company, makes a relatively low-tech class of programmable computer chip, and has largely exited the defense business. But a group of House members has asked the government to block the transaction, warning that China is seeking to buy American companies to build up its own chip industry.

Although CFIUS is tasked with making recommendations on such transactions, only the president has the authority to halt them. Reuters reported that CFIUS has recommended blocking three prior deals over the past three decades, and in each case the president at the time agreed.

Trump has been frequently critical of China and its trade policies, but the president desperately wants the nation's help in combating North Korea's nuclear program. Bloomberg reported that Lattice chief executive Darin Billerbeck is in Washington, D.C., this week lobbying for the deal.

Lattice announced plans last November to sell to Canyon Bridge Capital Partners, a newly formed investment firm backed by the Chinese government. Canyon Bridge offered $1.3 billion, or $8.30 a share, for the Portland company.

Regulatory filings show Lattice shopped the company for more than a year before agreeing to the Canyon Bridge deal, drawing interest from several Chinese suitors. Lattice attracted a bid from at least one U.S. company, too, but it offered "significantly" less than Canyon Bridge.

Investors always doubted the China deal would close, and Lattice's share price has never approached the $8.30 that Canyon Bridge offered. Lattice shares were trading at $5.71 Wednesday, well below the $6.37 it sold for before announcing the China deal in November.

-- Mike Rogoway; twitter: @rogoway; 503-294-7699