AT&T said it joined other companies in lobbying the Commerce Department against placing China Telecom on the entity list. AT&T said it provides services involving China Telecom that are essential for U.S. workers and customers. “In providing those services, we comply with all U.S. laws and the laws of the countries where we operate,” AT&T said. “Without a relationship with a licensed Chinese communications company, no non-Chinese provider can serve U.S. companies operating in China. In the absence of that, such support would be provided by a Chinese state-owned enterprise instead of AT&T or any other American company.” The company responded to what it said was a “misleading” report earlier Wednesday by Fox News. The Commerce Department didn’t comment Thursday. A Fox News spokesperson said that "AT&T's statement does not deny the reporting about the company's role in opposing sanctions against a Chinese telecom company. It acknowledges that role."
Top Senate Commerce Committee Democrats are beginning to prod President Joe Biden to move swiftly to name a permanent FCC chair and nominate a third Democratic commissioner, given the agency's 2-2 deadlock. Top committee Republicans told us they oppose Biden or Senate Democrats moving quickly given the likelihood it would lead to a return of net neutrality rules like the ones the commission adopted in 2015 (see 2101060055). The Senate is processing Biden’s nominees to cabinet posts, including attorney general nominee Merrick Garland and commerce secretary nominee Gina Raimondo.
The Senate Commerce Committee voted 21-3 Wednesday to advance commerce secretary nominee Gina Raimondo, likely setting up a floor confirmation vote in the coming days. Committee Republicans continued to raise concerns that Raimondo hasn’t unequivocally ruled out the Commerce Department rolling back restrictions on Huawei and other Chinese telecom and tech firms. The Wednesday vote was likely the last committee activity to occur with Republicans in control. The Senate agreed by unanimous consent Wednesday to approve a resolution to organize the 50-50 chamber, giving Democrats control of committee gavels.
Commerce secretary nominee Gina Raimondo told Senate Commerce Committee members before a planned Wednesday vote that she doesn't believe there's reason for the Commerce Department to remove Huawei and other Chinese companies from current departmental restrictions, like the Bureau of Industry and Security’s entity list. Raimondo’s comments, posted Tuesday, came amid rising GOP concerns about her failure at last week's confirmation hearing to definitively rule out removing Huawei from the entity list (see 2101260063). Senate Commerce's meeting to vote on Raimondo will begin at 9:30 a.m. in 325 Russell. The Senate also confirmed Pete Buttigieg as transportation secretary and Alejandro Mayorkas as homeland security secretary (see personals section of this publication's issue).
Three Republican senators are concerned that commerce secretary nominee Gina Raimondo’s “suggesting that all aspects of the approach to U.S. economic and technological competition are up for review” would include Commerce Department restrictions on Chinese telecom equipment maker Huawei. Raimondo said during her confirmation hearing that the U.S. should protect its networks against Chinese interference and didn't commit to keep Huawei on the Bureau of Industry and Security’s entity list (see 2101260063). The White House later clarified that President Joe Biden’s administration views Huawei as a threat to national security (see 2101270064). “Although we agree that some export controls, the Entity List, and Foreign Direct Product Rule could be reviewed to strengthen their application, we do not agree that such a review is necessary or desirable in the case of Huawei,” Sens. Tom Cotton of Arkansas, Marco Rubio of Florida and Ben Sasse of Nebraska wrote Raimondo Friday: “Without an effort to cut off Huawei … there are no market-based solutions to protect our allies’ companies or create the space for Americans or other trusted actors to compete.” They want her to explain whether she foresees “any scenario in which you would … either remove Huawei, or its subsidiaries, or spin-off companies from the Entity List (or expand any related general licenses), or, would permit any relaxation of the Foreign Direct Product Rule as it relates to 5G technology.” If other Commerce Department nominees “do not make clear that they will adhere to these broad concerns and objectives, they may face substantial opposition from Congress,” the senators said.
The Commerce Department and NTIA during President Joe Biden’s administration will strive to end interagency spectrum infighting that became endemic in recent years, Commerce Secretary nominee Gina Raimondo told the Senate Commerce Committee Tuesday. She said during her confirmation hearing NTIA should play a role in other matters, including broadband funding.
The Commerce Department Bureau of Industry and Security added more than 60 companies, including Semiconductor Manufacturing International Corp., China’s largest chipmaker, to the entity list “to protect U.S. national security,” said BIS Friday. This stems from China’s “military-civil fusion doctrine” and evidence of collaboration between SMIC and “entities of concern in the Chinese military industrial complex,” it said. SMIC denied the allegations, saying it supplies products and services only for “civilian end users” (see 2011120011). The company didn't comment Friday. The new restriction “limits SMIC's ability to acquire certain U.S. technology by requiring U.S. exporters to apply for a license to sell to the company,” said BIS. “Items uniquely required to produce semiconductors at advanced technology nodes -- 10 nanometers or below -- will be subject to a presumption of denial.” China urges the U.S. “to stop its wrong behavior of oppression of foreign companies,” said a Foreign Affairs Ministry spokesperson Friday in anticipation of the BIS action. “China will continue to take necessary measures to safeguard the legitimate rights and interests of Chinese companies.”
As China gains ground in technology, Congress should pursue more investment and restrictions to prevent China from accessing sensitive U.S. technologies, the U.S.-China Economic and Security Review Commission reported Tuesday. Commissioners said China’s access to U.S. technologies is helping it innovate and export surveillance tools and other advanced technologies globally. Commissioners expect trade restrictions to continue. “There is greater scrutiny and presumably greater action will come as a result of not only what Congress has done, but also the identification of numerous companies on the entity list” barring such transfers and maintained by the U.S. government, Commissioner Michael Wessel told an event hosted by the commission. The report said China is seeking to dominate the development of emerging technologies by securing leadership roles at international standards-setting bodies and “rewriting the norms by which they operate.” China hopes to exclude the U.S. and EU because it views standards as a “policy tool to advance its economic and geopolitical interests,” the report said. Experts told the commission this earlier this year (see 2006250050). The U.S. should create an interagency executive committee on international standards to form a coordinated response to Chinese actions at these bodies, said Commissioner James Talent, ex-Republican senator from Missouri. Talent said the committee would be modeled after the Committee on Foreign Investment in the U.S., with “high-level political appointees” from agencies with jurisdiction over standards setting, such as the Commerce Department. The White House didn't comment Wednesday on the recommendations in the annual report to Congress. China sees "the so-called commission" as having "always been ideologically biased against China," said a Foreign Affairs Ministry spokesperson Wednesday. "There is no factual basis for the vilification and smear of China in various reports it has fabricated."
Tension in relations between the U.S. and China on technology issues such as data security, privacy and telecom gear are making life complicated for some U.S. companies, experts told the Technology Policy Institute. They generally agreed aspects of the current U.S. approach may be unique to this administration and may have shortcomings. Neither the White House nor China's Embassy in Washington commented Wednesday, when the TPI video was released as part of its ongoing conference.
The Commerce Department's Bureau of Industry and Security added 38 Huawei affiliates to the entity list and refined a May amendment to its foreign direct product rule, further restricting the Chinese company's access to U.S. technology. BIS said the direct product rule also applies to transactions where U.S. software or technology is “the basis” for a foreign-made item produced or purchased by Huawei, or when such an entity is “a party to such a transaction.” Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said Huawei "has continuously tried to evade" the previous changes to the foreign direct product rule. The telecom gearmaker didn't comment.