huawei

Senators Call For Commerce Department To Stop Licensing Tech Sales to Huawei

Huawei has started granting licenses to companies, including Microsoft, hoping to sell products to the Chinese tech giant.

More than a dozen senators from both sides of the aisle are asking the Commerce Department to stop issuing licenses to companies seeking to sell exports to Huawei, the Chinese tech company that has been placed on the “Entity List.”

The department, which has blacklisted several Chinese tech companies including Dahua Technology and Hikvision, announced on Wednesday that it has begun granting licenses to American companies seeking to sell semiconductors and other parts to Huawei. Many video surveillance and security companies formerly did business with Huawei.

Huawei, which was added to the “Entity List” in may, remains on the trade blacklist. Only a quarter of the some 300 companies who have applied for licenses have received them so far, according to The Washington Post. Microsoft, which plans to export mass-market software to Huawei, was among the companies approved for a license on Nov. 20, the company said.

Shortly after the Commerce Department announced the move, 15 senators spoke out against the move, warning President Trump that doing business with Huawei in any capacity puts American national security at risk. Sen. Tom Cotton (R-Arkansas) and Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.), who have previously paired up to question TikTok’s ties to the Chinese government, penned the group’s letter to Trump.

“You have said yourself that you did not want the U.S. doing business with Huawei,” the letter reads. “National security experts widely agree that Chinese companies cooperate heavily with the Chinese Communist Party, and the Chinese government is thought to exercise considerable influence over Huawei, in particular.”

Schumer, Cotton and their fellow senators requested that the department stop granting licenses until they provide Congress with a report outlining how officials are determining whether or not a license request poses a national security threat.

“We believe that the approval of these export licenses would undermine the original intent of the Entity List designation, allowing Huawei to continue to pose a serious threat to U.S. telecommunications infrastructure and national security more broadly,” the senators wrote.

Huawei is already facing opposition from other sectors of the federal government. On Friday, the Federal Communications Commission voted unanimously to block U.S. telecoms companies from using federal funding to buy Huawei and ZTE equipment due to potential national security threats.

American companies still have another 90 days to work with Huawei thanks to a third extension granted by the Commerce Department on Nov. 18. Internet companies operating in rural areas of the country, which rely largely on Huawei equipment, have struggled to update their networks and are using the extended time to buy new parts.

About the Author

Haley Samsel is an Associate Content Editor for the Infrastructure Solutions Group at 1105 Media.

Featured

New Products

  • Luma x20

    Luma x20

    Snap One has announced its popular Luma x20 family of surveillance products now offers even greater security and privacy for home and business owners across the globe by giving them full control over integrators’ system access to view live and recorded video. According to Snap One Product Manager Derek Webb, the new “customer handoff” feature provides enhanced user control after initial installation, allowing the owners to have total privacy while also making it easy to reinstate integrator access when maintenance or assistance is required. This new feature is now available to all Luma x20 users globally. “The Luma x20 family of surveillance solutions provides excellent image and audio capture, and with the new customer handoff feature, it now offers absolute privacy for camera feeds and recordings,” Webb said. “With notifications and integrator access controlled through the powerful OvrC remote system management platform, it’s easy for integrators to give their clients full control of their footage and then to get temporary access from the client for any troubleshooting needs.”

  • Camden CV-7600 High Security Card Readers

    Camden CV-7600 High Security Card Readers

    Camden Door Controls has relaunched its CV-7600 card readers in response to growing market demand for a more secure alternative to standard proximity credentials that can be easily cloned. CV-7600 readers support MIFARE DESFire EV1 & EV2 encryption technology credentials, making them virtually clone-proof and highly secure.

  • Camden CM-221 Series Switches

    Camden CM-221 Series Switches

    Camden Door Controls is pleased to announce that, in response to soaring customer demand, it has expanded its range of ValueWave™ no-touch switches to include a narrow (slimline) version with manual override. This override button is designed to provide additional assurance that the request to exit switch will open a door, even if the no-touch sensor fails to operate. This new slimline switch also features a heavy gauge stainless steel faceplate, a red/green illuminated light ring, and is IP65 rated, making it ideal for indoor or outdoor use as part of an automatic door or access control system. ValueWave™ no-touch switches are designed for easy installation and trouble-free service in high traffic applications. In addition to this narrow version, the CM-221 & CM-222 Series switches are available in a range of other models with single and double gang heavy-gauge stainless steel faceplates and include illuminated light rings.