The Commerce Department plans to issue decisions on Huawei-related export license applications “within the next few weeks,” Secretary Wilbur Ross said July 23 on Bloomberg Television. Ross said Commerce has received about 50 applications from 35 companies. “We’re processing them as quickly as we responsibly can,” he said.
The Commerce Department’s presumption of denial for Huawei-related export licenses may no longer apply, Akin Gump lawyers said during a July 18 webinar.
Three trade experts discussing the role of technology in the U.S.-China trade war were split over how and when the two nations will reach a trade deal, with two saying they expect a deal soon and one saying China is willing to wait until a potentially new administration in 2020. But the experts, speaking July 18 during a panel at the Brookings Institution, agreed on one point: If there is a deal, the ban on Huawei Technologies will be lifted.
Bipartisan members of the Senate and House introduced a bill on July 16 that would prevent the Trump administration from removing Huawei from Commerce’s Entity List without congressional approval. The bill would also give Congress oversight of Huawei-related export licenses granted by Commerce, allowing Congress to issue a “joint resolution of disapproval” to render any export license inactive.
The House passed on voice votes July 11 three amendments aimed at addressing concerns about Chinese telecom equipment manufacturers Huawei and ZTE for inclusion in the chamber's version of the fiscal year 2020 National Defense Authorization Act (H.R. 2500). One, led by Rep. Mike Gallagher, R-Wis., would impose conditions for the Department of Commerce to be able to lift the Bureau of Industry and Security's addition of Huawei to its Entity List that would impose export restrictions on the company, including a finding that Huawei and its executives haven't violated U.S. or United Nations sanctions and haven't engaged in theft of U.S. intellectual property during the preceding five years. Acting Commerce Undersecretary for Industry and Security Nazak Nikakhtar said on July 9 the department is reviewing export license applications to sell to Huawei in order to “mitigate as much of the negative impacts of the entity listing as possible” and hopes to have decisions “soon” (see 1907090068).
An increasing number of foreign entities are using front companies to evade restrictions placed on them after being added to the Commerce Department’s Entity List, said Kevin Kurland, director of Commerce’s Office of Enforcement Analysis.
The Commerce Department is planning to issue multiple guidance documents on its blacklisting of Huawei Technologies due to the large number of questions from U.S. exporters, Commerce officials said during the Bureau of Industry and Security's annual export controls conference July 9-11 in Washington. Officials said the guidance will address the most common questions BIS has received from U.S. industries.
Huawei will remain on the Commerce Department Bureau of Industry and Security's Entity List but "we've opened the door, relaxed a bit the licensing requirements from the Commerce Department where there are not national security influences or consequences," White House Chief Economic Adviser Larry Kudlow said at a CNBC Capital Exchange event July 9. For example, "some of the chip companies would be permitted to sell on a limited basis to Huawei," he said. Those may be parts for "general merchandise" that ends up in countries "where we don't hold any great cachet," such as South Korea or Vietnam, he said. "That's the sort of thing that will be opened up that was closed." Kudlow also noted that China and the U.S. aren't far apart in their trade talks, but said that sometimes the last pieces can be the most difficult to resolve. China has resisted U.S. requests for change in Chinese laws and for enforcement provisions, he said.
The Commerce Department is reviewing export license applications to sell to Huawei in order to “mitigate as much of the negative impacts of the entity listing as possible” and hopes to have decisions “soon,” said Nazak Nikakhtar, Commerce undersecretary for the industry and security.
The Commerce Department will continue its presumption of denial policy for license applications for exports to Huawei, a Commerce spokesperson said July 3, adding that the China tech company remains on Commerce’s Entity List. Commerce will review export license applications for “their national security impacts” and plans to review licenses “under the highest national security scrutiny,” the spokesperson said.