Biden Signs Law Closing the ‘Huawei Loophole’

President Joe Biden this hebdomad sign a law gutting one of Huawei and ZTE ’s last lifelines into U.S. markets just years before a pinnacle meeting with China ’s president , Xi Jinping .

Dubbed The Secure Equipment Act , the legislation receive a rarefied unanimous approval from the senate and was overpoweringly approved by a 420 - 4 House voting in a bleak reminder that bipartisanship is bushed … except when it comes to China . The news rules will effectively bar the Federal Communications Commission from considering granting licenses for company the U.S. has deemed national security measure terror , an increase turn of which are based out of China .

By passing the practice of law , legislator hope to close what some have called the “ Huawei Loophole ” that lets companies like Huawei and ZTE go for for licenses so long as those applications did n’t involve Union funds . That triviality is part of the understanding why the Federal Communications Commission was able to approve more than 3,000 Huawei applications since 2018 , FCC Commissioner Brendan CarrtoldReuters . Those applications are part of the reason the agency isspending$1.9 billion in reimbursements to small ISP ’s to rip out and put back their Huawei and ZTE equipment .

Photo: Tobias Schwarz (Getty Images)

In a statement sent to Gizmodo , FCC Chairwoman Jessica Rosenworcel pronounce the legislation air a “ warm two-party signal ” that the U.S. is serious about creating a rich , unafraid market for 5 universal gravitational constant option . “ The Secure Equipment Act of 2021 will improve our safety as a nation by insure that untrusty communications equipment is not authorized for utilisation within our borderline , ” Rosenworcel aver .

During the transition period of time between Donald Trump and Joe Biden ’s presidentship , there was some uncertainty about whether the raw administration would maintain its predecessor ’s militant posture towards Chinese companies . At least in the type of Huawei and ZTE , this tidings marks the clearest evidence of a lengthiness .

originally this yr , the FCCformallynamed five Chinese troupe — Huawei , ZTE , Hytera , Hikvision , and Dahua Technology — as threat to U.S. home security . Then in July , Bidenadded14 more Chinese companies to the Commerce Department ’s economic blacklist , which prohibits U.S. firms from doing business with them . That all built up from a 2019 move by then - president Trump to tote up Huawei to the blacklist .

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crush out licence from the FCC was one of the last real shots Huawei had at penetrating U.S. market place , something now intimately impossible . That ’s important because previous political decisions to stymy off Huawei ’s access have had a dramatic impact on the party ’s business .

The troupe , which was once the public ’s number one smartphone maker by shipments as late as thesecondquarter in 2020 , has seen its external smartphone salesnosediveand quarterly revenuestank . interchangeable limitation ( or in some cases outright ban ) on Huawei ’s telecommunications equipment , in the UK , Australia , Canada , and elsewhere , have also left Huawei backed into a street corner .

Update 12 p.m. ET : Added comment from the FCC .

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