The Committee on Foreign Investment in the U.S. is increasing scrutiny on transactions involving sensitive technologies, trade lawyers said. Companies are facing more CFIUS-related delays and a heavier involvement by political appointees as the Trump administration seeks to put more pressure on China, the lawyers said. Transactions by companies that operate in industries that don’t seem to affect national security are attracting CFIUS attention, said Dechert's Mark Thierfelder, on Friday's webinar hosted by the law firm. “Deals that we might have thought about as being simple from an approval process in prior years seem to be getting an increasingly harder look.” In areas that may be national security risks, companies should expect even more CFIUS scrutiny, especially with critical tech, said Neal Wolin, CEO of Brunswick Group and former CFIUS chair. This is partly due to the administration’s increased focus on tech competition with China and a heightened White House involvement in foreign direct investment matters, Wolin said. “The willingness of the White House to be engaged in and involved in these kinds of conversations … has increased,” he said. “There's a lot of focus and a lot of politics around these kinds of deals, so inevitably the work of the committee gets shaped by that broader political context.” The Treasury Department and the White House didn't comment Monday.

The House voted 284-122 Thursday to request a conference with the Senate over the USA Freedom Reauthorization Act (see 2005270051). The Senate will need to vote to proceed to negotiations. House Democrats earlier Thursday withdrew plans to vote on the underlying bill. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., blamed Republicans for prioritizing politics. House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer, D-Md., withdrew consideration of the bill (see 2003110077): “The two-thirds of the Republican party that voted for this bill in March have indicated they are going to vote against it now. I am told they are doing so at the request of the president.” Pelosi noted House Judiciary Committee ranking member Jim Jordan, R-Ohio, testified Wednesday in support of the bill. That was hours before President Donald Trump said he would veto the bill, prompting the GOP to withdraw support. Progressives also announced their opposition Wednesday. The office for House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy, R-Calif., didn’t comment now.

Progressive Democrats Wednesday announced opposition to the USA Freedom Reauthorization Act (see 2005140061) after a Democratic amendment was dropped. The House was expected to vote on the underlying bill Wednesday. Congressional Progressive Caucus co-chairs Pramila Jayapal, Wash., and Mark Pocan, Wis., raised concerns about warrantless online surveillance. Mirroring a measure from Sens. Ron Wyden, D-Ore., and Steve Daines, R-Mont., an amendment from Reps. Zoe Lofgren, D-Calif., and Warren Davidson, R-Ohio, would have banned warrantless search and browsing history. The Wyden-Daines amendment was narrowly defeated in the Senate. “Despite some positive reforms, the legislation is far too narrow in scope and would still leave the public vulnerable to invasive online spying and data collection,” Jayapal and Pocan said. President Donald Trump urged Republicans to vote no on the bill.

Apple’s iPhone 11, starting at $699, surpassed the iPhone XR ($599) in global shipments in Q1, said Omdia Tuesday (login required). Apple shipped 19.5 million iPhone 11s, outpacing the iPhone XR a year ago by nearly 6 million units, it said. The iPhone 11 has two cameras, a “major upgrade” from the single-lens XR, that’s “extremely appealing” to consumers, said analyst Jusy Hong. Samsung was second with the Galaxy A51, shipping 6.8 million units. Xiaomi took third and fourth with Redmi Note 8 (6.6 million) and Redmi Note 8 Pro (6.1 million units). The three companies had all top 10 models. Among 5G smartphones, Samsung led global shipments with 3.5 million for the S20+ 5G, and came in fourth and fifth with the S20 5G (2.9 million) and S20 Ultra 5G (2.7 million). Huawei finished second and third in 5G shipments. Annual smartphone shipments will shrink this year due to the COVID-19 pandemic, slowing the pace of 5G expansion, said Omdia. An exception is China where the smartphone market has been “recovering rapidly” since March.

Amazon announced solar projects in Australia, China, Ohio and Virginia as part of a goal to reach 80% renewable energy by 2024, 100% by 2030, it said Thursday. The five new projects will supply about 615 MW and an expected 1.2 million MWh annually to Amazon’s fulfillment network and Amazon Web Services data centers, it said.

The FCC International Bureau gave Pacific Networks and ComNet until June 1 to respond to an April show cause order, said a letter in Wednesday’s Daily Digest. They sought an extension until June 8. The agency is considering revoking authorizations of four companies with ties to China, including Pacific Networks and ComNet (see 2004240046).

China promised countermeasures to respond to increased U.S. restrictions against Huawei, slamming “abuse of export controls” and violation of international trade laws. License requirements on shipments to Huawei for foreign-made chips containing U.S. content (see 2005180018) are a “serious threat” to China’s chip industry, China’s Commerce Ministry said Sunday, per an unofficial translation. State media said China is considering placing U.S. companies on its unreliable entity list. The rule will “complicate” operations for communication equipment manufacturers and could lead to drops in revenue and R&D efforts, emailed a U.S.-China Business Council spokesperson. “More transactions will require export licenses, adding additional expense and delays with no guarantee that licenses will be granted.” Chinese companies “of course would very much like to ... indigenize all aspects of the supply chain,” said Keith Krach, State Department undersecretary-economic growth, to reporters last week. “But at least for the moment … U.S. companies still have a very significant comparative advantage when it comes to the largely software-facilitated design tools that are involved in producing the very best chips.” National Foreign Trade Council Vice President Richard Sawaya said the rule falls short of industry’s worst fears, and members “realize that national security-related technology controls are warranted.” He said industry would have appreciated more transparency as the rules were being considered and a comment period. “That’s really what industry is asking for,” Sawaya told us: “Due process.” Monday, Huawei criticized the increased restrictions, saying they “ignore the concerns of many companies and industry associations.” It said the rule will “undermine” the global semiconductor industry. “The U.S. is leveraging its own technological strengths to crush companies outside its own borders,” the company said. Huawei’s rotating chairman, Guo Ping, said he's “confident” the company will work around the curbs. “Our experience over the past year has made us confident that we can find a solution, that our customers and suppliers can continue to stand with us and minimize the impact of this discriminatory rule,” he said. Sen. Ben Sasse, R-Neb., called the rule “long overdue.” The U.S. “needs to strangle Huawei,” Sasse said. “Modern wars are fought with semiconductors, and we were letting Huawei use our American designs.”

The coronavirus pandemic could change the relationship between governments and platforms, said Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg and European Internal Market Commissioner Thierry Breton on a Monday virtual debate. Everyone is trying to figure out the situation, which requires more public-private sector cooperation, said Zuckerberg. Breton actively contacted platforms to see how they could help fight COVID-19 disinformation and keep networks running, Zuckerberg said. Facebook and others worked quickly to reduce bandwidth to ensure people could stay connected. Breton said he has learned it's important to "anticipate." Telecom networks weren't designed for a situation where everyone was living, working and learning at home. But frank discussions with Facebook, Netflix and other platforms resulted in fast reaction as both parties worked to cope. Asked how they see their respective roles in the pandemic exit and recovery stages, Breton said Europe is focused on a "green deal" and on teleworking. Ensuring people have access to accurate information in the health crisis is important, said Zuckerberg. The EU learned "we have to invent together our future," said Breton. Platforms must learn to cooperate with administrations, he said: It's not governments that should adapt to platforms but the reverse. The European Commission is working on prior regulation of platforms as it has enacted for telcos, he said: The less regulation needed the better, but if platforms and governments can't find a way to cooperate, the EC "will regulate, of course." Asked about the need for a digital deal between governments and platforms, Zuckerberg advocated a broader partnership, saying platforms shouldn't be left to govern themselves, and such a deal is "inevitable," including regulation. But he voiced concern about whose regulatory framework will win globally. Countries like China have different values from democratic nations, and some other governments are considering this model, with localized data and less respect for human rights. That model is dangerous, he said; the best antidote is regulation that comes from democracies. The right kind of framework requires clear and strong values, which Europe has, said Breton. Platforms must understand those values to help build a new form of governance, which won't happen overnight, he said.

Sen. Marsha Blackburn, R-Tenn., urged colleagues to “refuse meetings with any representatives of Chinese companies,” including telecom equipment makers Huawei and ZTE and app TikTok. The Commerce Department said Friday it’s increasing restrictions on foreign-made chips exported to and made by Huawei. The department also doesn’t plan to issue another temporary general license extension for the Chinese telecom gearmaker after its latest 90-day renewal expires Aug. 13 (see 2005150027). Lawmakers should refuse meetings with Chinese companies “regardless of whether they are state owned or claim to be privately run entities, and to exercise caution when accepting meetings with Chinese officials,” Blackburn said in a letter: The ban “is a long overdue sanction” after an existing ban on sales of Huawei and ZTE equipment to federal agencies and a block on TikTok’s use on government-issues devices of military and some federal personnel. The companies’ “representatives likewise cannot be trusted to lobby members of Congress with the best of U.S. intentions in mind,” she said: “Blacklisting China in Congress mirrors punitive steps the executive branch has already taken. The Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States routinely blocks Chinese acquisitions of American companies to guard against national security risks,” while Commerce “blacklists Chinese companies that enable human rights abuses or act contrary to U.S. foreign policy or national security.” Blackburn is among the lawmakers who helped shape anti-Huawei/ZTE legislation (see 1907220053).

China Unicom Americas wants 30 more days, until June 23, to respond to an FCC show cause order. The agency is considering revoking authorizations of four companies with ties to China, including CUA (see 2004240046). “The Order requires CUA’s response to address 16 specific items,” the company said in a filing posted Thursday in docket 20-110: “Many of these requests seek detailed information and explanations.” China Telecom Americas also requested till June 23. The International Bureau extended that filing deadline Thursday to June 8.