Republicans Are Concerned Over US Approval Of Huawei Auto Chips Deal

A group of 13 Republican lawmakers on Thursday, September 9, raised concerns about US approval for Huawei to buy chips for its growing auto component business, reported Reuters.

The lawmakers on the Energy and Commerce Committee asked US Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg in a letter seen by Reuters if he was concerned “Huawei will look for a foothold in developing components for future vehicles in order to gather information on Americans and our transportation infrastructure.”

Related: US Senator Rubio Demands Answers On Huawei’s Auto Chip Approval

Reuters reported in August that US officials have approved license applications worth hundreds of millions of dollars for China’s blacklisted telecom company Huawei.

The Biden administration, through the Commerce Department’s Bureau of Industry and Security, has been reinforcing the hard line on exports to Huawei, denying licenses to sell chips to Huawei for use in or with 5Gdevices.

But auto chips are generally not considered sophisticated, lowering the bar for approval. One former government official said they were “non controversial” while a chip industry source said “old chips for cars don’t harm US national security.”

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