US will take further action against Huawei if necessary, commerce chief Raimondo says
- Washington says Huawei is a national security threat on a variety of grounds and aggressively lobbied other countries not to use Huawei equipment
- Former president Donald Trump’s administration added Huawei to the US Entity List in May 2019
US Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo said on Thursday the Biden administration will take further action against Chinese telecoms firm Huawei Technologies if necessary, after some Republican lawmakers pressed for more steps.
Citing Huawei’s ties to the Chinese government and military, Washington says this makes the company susceptible to “Chinese governmental pressure to participate in espionage”.
In a Reuters interview, Raimondo was asked about Huawei and recounted how she told Republican lawmakers in January “that I wouldn’t be soft and now the proof’s in the pudding – we haven’t been. They shouldn’t worry”.
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Former president Donald Trump’s administration added Huawei to the US Entity List in May 2019 and Raimondo said the list “is a really powerful tool in our toolbox, and we will use it to the fullest extent possible to protect American national security”.
She added: “Will we do more? If we need to, yes.”