Bill would bar business with Huawei

Lawmakers in the House and Senate introduced legislation Tuesday to keep Chinese telecommunications group Huawei out of U.S. fifth generation (5G) networks and prevent U.S. companies from doing business with the company many have deemed a national security threat.

The Defending America’s 5G Future Act would prevent Huawei from being removed from the Commerce Department’s “entity list” without an act of Congress. Being included on this list is seen as a death sentence, as it bans U.S. companies from doing business with that entity.

The bill would also give Congress the power to block administration waivers for U.S. companies to do business with Huawei.

Further, the legislation would codify President Trump’s May executive order, which empowers the Trump administration to block foreign tech companies deemed a national security threat from doing business in the U.S.

Huawei was added to the entity list in May, though the Commerce Department granted a 90-day extension before this went into effect to give American companies time to adjust.

However, the move was thrown into question when President Trump announced at the Group of 20 summit in Japan last month that U.S. companies would be allowed to sell equipment to Huawei if there were no national security concerns involved, prompting a wave of bipartisan criticism of this decision on Capitol Hill.

Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross subsequently announced that his department will issue licenses to U.S. companies to sell products to Huawei in cases where there is no national security risk.