ITIF Opposes Rumored Huawei Export Ban

The Biden administration shouldn’t block U.S. companies from providing supplies to China’s Huawei by tightening export controls, the Information Technology and Innovation Foundation said Tuesday. Various news outlets, citing unnamed sources, report the administration is considering that. The White House didn't comment. “The administration’s ongoing efforts to bolster U.S. technology competitiveness have been commendable, but fully cutting off Huawei from U.S. suppliers would likely have the opposite effect,” said Stephen Ezell, ITIF vice president-global innovation policy. “Huawei technologies are already banned from U.S. telecommunications networks, which undercuts the national security rationale for cutting it off” and “there is a strong economic rationale not to cut off Huawei,” he said. China is a critical market for U.S. technology vendors, accounting for 36% of U.S. semiconductor sales as recently as 2019, Ezell said: “Every dollar a U.S. technology company earns in the Chinese market is one that Chinese competitors don’t earn, so banning exports to Huawei helps Chinese technology suppliers and hurts their U.S. counterparts.”