U.S. subpoenas Chinese communications firms in probe of national security risks
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The U.S. Department of Commerce said on Wednesday that it's served subpoenas on multiple Chinese companies that provide information and technology services within the us to ascertain if they pose a national security risk.
“Beijing has engaged in conduct that blunts our technological edge and threatens our alliances,” Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo said in statement.
The subpoenas will gather information to “allow us to form a determination for possibility that best protects the safety of yank companies, American workers, and U.S. national security.”
In response, China urged the us to “stop overstretching the concept of national security to politicize economic issues,” foreign ministry spokesman Zhao Lijian told a news briefing on Thursday, adding that China will take measures to safeguard the rights and interests of Chinese companies.
The U.S. statement didn't name any companies. China’s Huawei Technologies and ZTE Corp were targeted by the previous administration of Donald Trump for removal from the U.S. telecoms infrastructure.
President Joe Biden’s administration said last month it plans to permit a Trump-era rule targeting Chinese technology firms deemed a threat to the us to travel into effect despite objections from U.S. businesses.
The Department of Commerce issued an interim final rule out the ultimate days of the Trump administration aimed toward addressing information and technology supply chain concerns and said it might become effective after a 60-day period of public comment.
Last month, the department said it might still accept public discuss the rule until March 22, when it might enter effect. The subpoenas wouldn't have an impression on the interim final rule’s timing, a department official said on Wednesday.
The U.S. Chamber of Commerce and groups representing major industries raised concerns during a letter to the Department of Commerce in January that the interim rule gave the govt “nearly unlimited authority to intervene in virtually any commercial transaction between U.S. companies and their foreign counterparts that involves technology.”
Business Roundtable, a gaggle representing major U.S. chief executives, said earlier the proposal is “unworkable for U.S. businesses in its current form.”
0 Comments