Bipartisan Bill Could Impose Financial Sanctions on Huawei, Other Chinese Firms
A bipartisan bill could place new sanctions on Huawei and other Chinese technology companies by adding them to the Treasury Department’s Specially Designated Nationals List. The bill, introduced in the Senate this week by Sens. Tom Cotton, R-Ark.; Chris Van Hollen, D-Md.; Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y.; and Rick Scott, R-Fla., would impose financial sanctions on “untrustworthy Chinese 5G producers who engage in economic espionage against the United States,” the lawmakers said, and “effectively freeze them” from using the U.S. financial system. Rep. Mike Gallagher, R-Wis., introduced a companion bill in the House.
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Van Hollen said the bill looks to target “foreign companies that spy on the U.S. and violate our laws,” and Cotton called Huawei “an arm of Chinese intelligence.” Along with Huawei, the bill also could sanction foreign companies that produce 5G or “future generation telecommunication technology,” engage in “economic or industrial espionage with respect to trade secrets” of the U.S., or are involved in “other related illicit activities, including violations of sanctions.” The bill was previously introduced in 2020.
A Chinese foreign ministry spokesperson said Dec. 14 at a regular daily news conference in Beijing that it's "firmly against" the bill and any "moves to overstretch the concept of national security and abuse state power to wantonly hobble Chinese companies."