Houses Passes Measures Aimed at Limiting Chinese Control of 5G Market
The House passed a bill and a resolution Jan. 8 aimed at protecting the competitiveness of U.S. manufacturers and exporters in the 5G sector. The measures also seek to improve the U.S.’s presence at international bodies that set standards for 5G networks and equipment over fears that China will permanently surpass U.S. 5G technology and control the market. The House passed the Secure 5G and Beyond Act, which requires several federal agencies, including the Commerce Department, to “protect the competitiveness” of U.S. companies by completing an assessment of the competitiveness and vulnerabilities of U.S. manufacturers and suppliers of 5G equipment. The bill also requires the agencies to identify “policy options” to close “security gaps” in the U.S. development of “critical technologies.”
Sign up for a free preview to unlock the rest of this article
If your job depends on informed compliance, you need International Trade Today. Delivered every business day and available any time online, only International Trade Today helps you stay current on the increasingly complex international trade regulatory environment.
The House also passed a resolution urging the Trump administration to “promote global trade and security policies” consistent with The Prague Proposals, which call for a series of measures to guard against security risks posed to communication networks by foreign governments. The resolution said U.S. leadership in 5G technology will help “drive” advances in artificial intelligence, machine learning, robotics, quantum computers and more. Commerce is planning to place export restrictions on emerging technologies (see 1912170031) -- including potentially AI, robotics and quantum computing -- to restrict foreign access by countries such as China.