WASHINGTON—U.S. Senators Mitt Romney (R-UT), Marco Rubio (R-FL), and Susan Collins (R-ME) introduced the Huawei Prohibition Act of 2019, legislation to ensure that Huawei Technologies Co. Ltd. is not removed from the Commerce Department’s Entity List of sanctioned companies until after the Secretary of Commerce certifies that the company no longer poses a national security threat.
In a joint letter, the Senators also urged the Chairman and Ranking Member of the Senate Armed Services Committee to include a similar provision in the final FY2020 National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA). The full text of their letter is available here.
“We must make a concerted effort to confront the threat China poses to U.S. national security, intellectual property, and technology,” Romney said. “As Congress continues to take steps toward protecting our national security against the threat China poses, it is vital that Huawei does not have access to our critical telecommunications infrastructure. Our bill will prohibit U.S.-based companies from doing business with Huawei until they no longer pose a national security threat.”
“Adding Huawei to the Commerce Department’s banned Entity List was one of the most important moves by the Trump Administration in America’s long-term strategic competition with the totalitarian Chinese government and Communist Party,” Rubio said. “Congress must protect that action and this important legislation does just that. Huawei, a malign Chinese state-directed telecommunications company that seeks to dominate the future of 5G networks, is an instrument of national power used by the regime in Beijing to undermine U.S. companies and other international competitors, engage in espionage on foreign countries, and steal intellectual property and trade secrets.”
“Products manufactured by Huawei Technologies pose a serious national security threat,” Collins said. “This bipartisan bill would continue to prevent Huawei Technologies from doing business with U.S. companies until Congress receives concrete assurances that it is no longer a threat to U.S. infrastructure or engaged in intellectual property theft.”
Background:
- The Huawei Prohibition Act of 2019 ensures that the Secretary of Commerce may not remove Huawei Technologies from the Entity List maintained by the Bureau of Industry and Security until the Secretary certifies to Congress that:
- Neither Huawei nor any senior officers of Huawei have engaged in actions in violations of sanctions imposed by the U.S. or the United Nations in the 5-year period preceding the certification;
- Huawei has not engaged in theft of U.S. intellectual property in that 5-year period;
- Huawei does not pose an ongoing threat to U.S. telecommunications systems or critical infrastructure;
- Huawei does not pose a threat to critical infrastructure of allies of the U.S.