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The past 48 hrs have seen some major policy moves in Washington on China tech issues. Let's recap what just happened [THREAD] 👇
Yesterday, the Trump Administration (finally) signed an Executive Order laying the foundations for a ban on Huawei and other Chinese companies in U.S. 5G networks. wsj.com/articles/trump…
The Executive Order had been in the works for months, although put on hold until after US-China trade talks. The immediate effect is largely symbolic, as Huawei and ZTE aren't used by major U.S. carriers anyway.
But a formal U.S. ban could help give other nations diplomatic top-cover for more stringent efforts against Huawei. The U.S. has been campaigning for countries to ban Huawei, while the U.S. had not (until now) instituted the formal procedures for a ban itself.
So the Executive Order is a symbolic but nonetheless valuable step.
Perhaps most significantly, the EO language is fairly expansive beyond just Chinese companies and 5G.
The EO covers "information and communications technology or services designed, developed, manufactured, or supplied, by persons owned by, controlled, or subject to the jurisdiction or direction of a foreign adversary." whitehouse.gov/presidential-a…
So depending on how the U.S. government puts this into practice, the Executive Order could be applied broadly in other areas against foreign tech from other nations.
The Commerce Dept also announced it will add Huawei to its "Entity List," banning them from buying components from any U.S. companies without U.S. government approval. reuters.com/article/us-usa…
The Commerce "Entity List" add only applies to Huawei and 70 affiliates, but the consequences for Huawei could be severe.
Depending on the specific rules for how it is implemented and whether the U.S. government allows any exceptions, this could seriously restrict Huawei's ability to access U.S. tech.
A similar move against ZTE in 2016 nearly brought the company to its knees, although it isn't clear if Huawei is as heavily dependent on U.S. suppliers as ZTE was.
In addition to all this, U.S. legislators have proposed a couple bills that would also restrict U.S.-China tech cooperation.
There was a bill introduced by Rep. Gallagher and others that would prohibit U.S. visas for Chinese researchers and students from institutions affiliated with the Chinese military. gallagher.house.gov/media/press-re…
Finally, Sen. Josh Hawley introduced the "China Technology Transfer Control Act of 2019." The bill, if passed, would place all 15 "core technologies" on China's "Made in China 2025" plan on the U.S. Export Control List, banning export to China. hawley.senate.gov/sen-hawley-int…
All of the sponsors of these recent bills are Republicans, but don't get the mistaken impression that being tough on China is a partisan issue in Washington. It isn't.
Last month, a bipartisan group of 24 lawmakers sent a letter to the administration calling for sanctions on Chinese officials and companies involved in human rights abuses under the Global Magnitsky Act. thehill.com/policy/interna…
How significant these actions are will depend a lot of how these bans are put into practice and whether the proposed legislation ever gets passed in some form, but overall a flurry of big moves in Washington on US-China tech issues.
