Tech War: Biden moves to halt US exports to Huawei, reports say

The US government has stopped approving licences for American firms to export most items to Chinese technology giant Huawei, according to reports.

It comes as the Biden administration continues to tighten its rules on exports of US technology to China.

Washington has previously accused Huawei of being a threat to US national security and of working with the Chinese Communist Party.

The company and the Chinese government have repeatedly denied the allegations.

The US Commerce Department has told some American firms that it would no longer issue licences for US technology exports to Huawei, according to the Financial Times, which first reported the story.

The move comes as Washington moves towards a total ban on the sale of US technology to the Chinese telecom equipment giant, the paper said.

“Working closely with our interagency export controls partners at the Departments of Energy, Defense and State, we continually assess our policies and regulations and communicate regularly with external stakeholders,” a US Commerce Department spokesperson told the BBC.

“We do not comment on conversations with or deliberations about specific companies,” they added.

Huawei declined to comment on the reports.

The Biden Administration has continued to tighten restrictions on Huawei as political tensions between Washington and Beijing increased over Taiwan, where most of the world’s computer chips are made.

In October, US Under Secretary of Commerce for Industry and Security Alan Estevez said “the threat environment is always changing.”

“We are appropriately doing everything in our power to protect our national security and prevent sensitive technologies with military applications from being acquired by the People’s Republic of China’s military, intelligence, and security services,” he added.

For several years the Shenzhen-based Huawei has faced US export restrictions on items for high-speed fifth generation (5G) telecoms equipment and artificial intelligence technology.

In 2019, during the presidency of Donald Trump, US officials added the company to a so-called “entity list.”

It means that US companies need to obtain a licence from the government to export or transfer some technologies, especially over concerns that they will be used by the Chinese military.

However, in that time licences have been granted to some US companies, including Intel and Qualcomm, to supply Huawei with technology that was not related to 5G.