Biden Admin May Cut Off Chinese Telecom Giant Over National Security Concerns
Nino Cambria on January 31, 2023
The Biden administration is moving toward cutting off major Chinese telecommunications company Huawei from U.S. suppliers, citing national security concerns, according to The Wall Street Journal.
The administration is considering stopping Trump-era license grants allowing American companies to sell technology to Huawei that they don’t believe poses a national security risk, according to the WSJ. The potential move comes as the U.S. aims to counter Chinese commerce amid increased diplomatic tensions between the two nations.
In 2019, the Trump Department of Commerce added Huawei to the department’s “Entity List,” a list of foreign companies considered national security threats, according to a department press release at the time. Huawei’s placement on the Entity List had an impact as the company failed to crack the top five handset phone providers in China in 2022, according to International Data Corp.
The Biden State Department has built off of the previous administration’s fight against Chinese telecom companies like Huawei.
The current administration is considering going further and no longer granting these licenses, according to the WSJ. U.S. items currently exempted include less advanced chips used in the company’s PCs and smartphones. The restrictions have cut Huawei off from the most advanced chips and prevented the telecom giant from offering 5G smartphones.
In perhaps a sign of where the administration is leaning, Department of Commerce officials have signaled to American-based telecom companies Qualcomm and Intel to wind down their sales with Huawei, according to the WSJ.
“Working closely with our interagency export controls partners at the Departments of Energy, Defense and State, we continually assess our policies and regulations and communicate regularly with external stakeholders,” a Department of Commerce spokesperson told the Daily Caller News Foundation by email. “We do not comment on conversations with or deliberations about specific companies.”
There has been bipartisan support to blacklist Huawei due to its possible ties to the Chinese government. The company maintains it is not a national security risk.
Hauwei did not immediately respond to the Daily Caller News Foundation’s request for comment.
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