US senators call for halt to Huawei licence approvals in letter to Donald Trump
- Bipartisan group of 15 lawmakers demands that congressional leaders be notified before US firms are allowed to sell components to the Chinese telecoms giant
- About half of 300 requests have been processed so far, with roughly half of those given green light
A bipartisan group of 15 US senators urged the Commerce Department to suspend issuing licences to American firms that conduct business with China’s Huawei Technologies.
In a letter on Thursday to President Donald Trump, the senators said the administration should halt issuing licences until it provides Congress “a report outlining specific criteria for determining whether or not the approval of any licence poses a national security threat”.
The Trump administration said on Wednesday that it had begun issuing licences to allow some suppliers to restart sales to the Chinese telecoms giant after it was placed on a trade blacklist because of national security concerns six months ago.
A US official said on Wednesday that of roughly 300 licence requests, about half had been processed, with roughly half of those – or one-quarter – approved and another quarter have received notices of intent to deny.
The letter, which was signed by Senate Democratic Leader Chuck Schumer and Republican Senator Tom Cotton, demands that congressional leaders “be notified prior to the issuance of any licences to US firms to sell components to Huawei and its affiliates.”