Closing Glaring Loophole? Biden Inks Law to Block Huawei's Access to New US Equipment Licenses

The Chinese tech giant Huawei has been a long-term target of Washington over claims that the firm poses a national security risk to the US due to the company's alleged collaboration with the Chinese government. Both Huawei and Beijing reject the allegations.

US President Joe Biden has inked the Secure Equipment Act to keep Chinese telecom companies like Huawei Technologies Co and ZTE Corp from obtaining new equipment licenses from American regulators.

The document, which was okayed by the Senate last month and approved by the House earlier in November, prevents the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) from granting or reviewing applications for licenses from companies that the agency determines are a security threat to the US.

FCC Commissioner Brendan Carr called the law something that "will help to ensure that insecure gear from companies like Huawei and ZTE can no longer be inserted into America's communications networks".

He also argued that the bill would "close a glaring loophole that Huawei and others are exploiting today to place their insecure gear into our networks".

The signing of the Secure Equipment Act comes after the FCC blacklisted Huawei, ZTE, and a number of other Chinese technology firms in March as companies that pose "an unacceptable risk" to US national security.

The crusade against the world's leading 5G giant Huawei was launched in mid-2018 by the Trump administration over allegations that the tech giant had ties with the Chinese government.

The company was also later accused of exporting US technologies to Iran and its Chief Finance Officer Meng Wanzhou was arrested on fraud charges in Canada over claims that the company violated US sanctions while selling equipment to Tehran.

In September 2021, Meng pleaded not guilty to the US charges of fraud and conspiracy as she attended an online hearing at a federal court in Brooklyn.

Huawei has repeatedly denied all the accusations against its operations and accused Washington of pursuing anti-competitive practices in an attempt to boost America's business sector and stall China's economic advacement.