The Biden administration has stopped issuing export licenses to US companies to Huawei as it moves to impose an outright ban on the sale of US technology to the Chinese telecommunications equipment giant.
Several people familiar with the discussions inside the administration said the commerce department had informed several companies that it would no longer issue licenses to any group that wanted to export American technology to China. Huawei.
The move marks the latest spearhead in Washington’s campaign to rein in the Shenzhen-based technology company, which US security officials believe has helped China engage in espionage. Huawei denies any involvement in espionage.
The Trump administration in 2019 imposed tough restrictions on US technology exports to Huawei by adding the company to a so-called “entity list” blacklist. The move is part of a strategy to crack down on Chinese companies that Washington believes pose risks to US national security.
But the commerce department continued to issue export licenses to a number of companies, including Qualcomm and Intel, to supply Huawei with technology unrelated to high-speed 5G telecommunications networks.
Over the past two years, President Joe Biden has taken a tougher stance on China than Donald Trump, especially in the area of advanced technology. In October, he imposed sweeping restrictions on the supply of advanced semiconductors and chip-making equipment to Chinese corporations.
Alan Estevez, head of the commerce department’s office of industry and security, led a review of Policy regarding China in an effort to determine what next steps the administration should take to make it harder for the Chinese military to use American technology to develop weapons.
Officials reviewing China’s policy include Thea Kendler, a former prosecutor involved in the criminal case brought by the United States against Meng Wanzhou, Huawei’s chief financial officer. Ms. Meng was detained in Canada for three years at the request of Washington, but she later reached an agreement with US prosecutors allowing her to return to China.
In December, the Biden administration added dozens more Chinese companies to the entity list, including Yangtze Memory Technologies (YMTC), a flash memory company that has emerged as a Chinese national champion .
The Financial Times reported last year that the Biden administration was investigating allegations that the YMTC violated US export controls by supplying Huawei with chips containing American technology for advanced smartphones. their most advanced.
Republicans on Capitol Hill, led by Michael McCaul, who recently became head of the House foreign affairs committee, have called on the Biden administration to stop providing export licenses to Huawei.
The development comes as Secretary of State Antony Blinken prepares to travel to China next week for the first visit to the country by a member of Biden’s cabinet.
The latest move against Huawei comes as the US ramps up efforts with its allies to slow China’s efforts to develop cutting-edge technology like semiconductors used for everything from artificial intelligence to artificial intelligence. nuclear weapons creation and modeling to hypersonic weapons development.
Washington last week reached an agreement with Japan and the Netherlands that would see US allies place restrictions on companies in their own countries to prevent them from exporting certain chip-making equipment to China. The United States in October unilaterally imposed restrictions on American companies to prevent them from exporting semiconductor manufacturing tools.
Estevez late last year suggested that the United States was looking at several other areas. When asked about reports that the administration is looking into quantum and biotechnology restrictions, he told the CNAS think tank: “If I were a bettor I will put money in it.”
The Commerce Department declined to comment on the suspension of export licenses for Huawei. The Shenzhen-based company also declined to comment.
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