US Congress: Commerce Department should Keep sensitive technology away from China

• 

A report by the advisory committee in the US Congress accused the US Department of Commerce of "not doing its job to protect national security and keep sensitive technology away from the Chinese military."

The US-China Economic and Security Review Committee stated that the Commerce Department failed to prepare a list of sensitive technology items that should be prohibited to China.

According to a report that Reuters looked into, the delay in preparing the list, required by a law passed in 2018, may increase the risks to national security.

The report, Unfinished Business: Export Control and Foreign Investment Reform, added that the Ministry of Commerce, tasked with strengthening export control laws, "has not yet fulfilled its duties."

In a statement, the ministry refused to respond directly to the fact that it had not prepared the list and indicated that it had published four rules on export control and that it was in the process of publishing more of them.

The statement added that it expanded the military base end-uses and added companies to its list of entities that prevent US exporters from selling several companies, such as "Huawei Technologies" and "Hikvision" for the manufacture of surveillance cameras.

In the same context, US President Donald Trump's administration reported in 2020 that major Chinese companies, including "Huawei Technologies" and "Hikvision", are "owned or controlled by the Chinese army", which paves the way for more US financial sanctions.

In 2020, the US Federal Communications Commission declared that the Chinese companies "Huawei and ZTE" pose a "threat to US national security."

In May 2019, the US administration blacklisted Huawei, accusing the group of working with Chinese authorities, in a decision that forced US companies and US residents to find other telecommunication equipment and software suppliers.