The Trump administration will ask companies to pay $US100,000 ($A152,000) a year for H-1B worker visas, potentially dealing a big blow to the technology sector that relies heavily on skilled workers from India and China.

Since taking office in January, Trump has kicked off a wide-ranging immigration crackdown, including moves to limit some forms of legal immigration.

The move to reshape the H-1B visa program represents his administration's most high-profile effort to rework temporary employment visas.

"A hundred thousand dollars a year for H1-B visas, and all of the big companies are on board. We've spoken to them," US Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick said on Friday.

"If you're going to train somebody, you're going to train one of the recent graduates from one of the great universitie

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