Senators concerned about issuance of export licenses related to Huawei

Sens. Tom Cotton (R-AR) and Chuck Schumer (D-NY) were among a group of U.S. Senators that expressed their concerns that the U.S. Department of Commerce has started issuing export licenses to U.S. firms to do business with Huawei Technologies.

Huawei, the Chinese telecom company, was added to the Department of Commerce’s Entity List for reasons of national security. This designation prohibits the export and transfer of certain U.S. goods and technology to Huawei.

The senators said the approval of these export licenses would undermine the original intent of the Entity List designation. There is concern that Huawei – a supplier of 5G technology – could be exploited by China to engage in espionage and monitor foreign corporations and governments.

“Mr. President, Secretary Ross has expressed that this decision was made to implement your G-20 Summit directive announced this June. However, you have said yourself that you did not want the U.S. doing business with Huawei. 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,” the senators wrote to President Donald Trump on the matter. “Consequently, 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.”

Along with Schumer and Cotton, the letters were signed by Sens. Chris Van Hollen, (D-MD), Rick Scott (R-FL), Richard Blumenthal (D-CT), Ben Sasse (R-NE), Tammy Baldwin (D-WI), John Cornyn (R-TX), Ed Markey (D-MA), Josh Hawley (R-MO), Elizabeth Warren (D-MA), Ron Wyden (D-OR), Cory Booker (D-NJ), Kirsten Gillibrand (D-NY), and Doug Jones (D-AL).

The senators request that the Department of Commerce suspend the granting of licenses to U.S. companies until it provides Congress with a report detailing its criteria for determining if a potential license poses a national security threat. Also, they ask that Congressional leadership be notified before the issuance of any licenses to U.S. firms to sell components to Huawei.