According to two people with knowledge of the situation, the Biden administration is looking into the Chinese telecom equipment manufacturer Huawei over worries that US cell towers outfitted with its hardware could collect sensitive information from military bases and missile silos and send it to China.
One of the persons, who asked to remain anonymous because the probe is private and involves national security, claimed that authorities are worried that Huawei could access sensitive information through the equipment on military manoeuvres and the readiness state of bases and soldiers.
According to the sources, the Commerce Department launched the previously unknown investigation soon after Joe Biden entered office in early last year. This was done after guidelines were put in place to clarify a May 2019 presidential order that granted the agency the authority to conduct investigations.
According to the 10-page document seen by Reuters, the government sent Huawei with a subpoena in April 2021 to learn more about the firm’s policies on disclosing to foreign parties data that its equipment could obtain from cell phones, including messages and geolocational information.
The Department of Commerce stated that it was unable to “confirm or deny ongoing investigations.” In order to safeguard our economic and national security, it was also stated that “protecting US citizens’ safety and security against nefarious information collection is essential.”
Requests for comment from Huawei were not answered. The business has categorically disputed the claims made by the US government that it may eavesdrop on US consumers and otherwise represent a threat to national security.
The precise accusations received no response from the Chinese embassy in Washington. “The US government abuses the concept of national security and state power to go to great lengths to suppress Huawei and other Chinese telecommunications companies without providing any solid evidence that they constitute a security threat to the US and other countries,” it was stated in an email statement.
Reuters was unable to ascertain what steps the agency might use to penalize Huawei.
According to eight current and former US government sources, the investigation of the corporation, which has already been subject to a number of US restrictions in recent years, indicates ongoing national security concerns.
The Federal Communications Commission (FCC), the US telecoms regulator, may impose more limitations if the Commerce Department decides Huawei constitutes a national security concern.
According to a number of lawyers, academics, and former officials contacted by Reuters, the agency could use broad new powers granted by the Trump administration to ban all US transactions with Huawei and order US telecoms carriers that still use its equipment to remove it immediately under threat of fines or other penalties.
