Bipartisan group of senators introduce legislation to restrict Huawei's access to U.S. banks

A group of Democratic and Republican senators have introduced a bill to restrict access to the U.S. financial system for the Chinese telecommunications company Huawei. Congressmen from both parties justified the imposition of sanctions by claiming that the company "is a weapon of Chinese intelligence" and that it carries out espionage work for the Chinese Communist Party.

Introducing and negotiating and the new legislation from the Democratic party were, Senate Majority Leader Charles Schumer and Chris Van Hollen, bipartisan support came from Republicans Rick Scott and Tom Cotton. Speaking to The Hill, Scott insisted on the need for this legislation because "for too long, the United States has allowed one of our biggest adversaries into the most sensitive areas of our lives, and that must end."

"Economic espionage"

According to fellow party member Cotton, Chinese Communist leaders have been taking advantage of the absence of regulations to gather sensitive information for years. "We cannot allow Huawei and the Chinese Communist Party to have access to Americans’ personal data and our country’s most sensitive defense systems. We must address the dire threat these Chinese companies pose to our national security."

The Asian operator is not the only recipient of this measure. Cotton pointed out that, thanks to this new rule, sanctions and or penalties may also be applied against "other unreliable Chinese 5G producers that engage in economic espionage" against the United States, according to a statement from his office. This was reaffirmed by Democratic Senator Van Hollen: "Foreign companies that spy on the U.S. and violate our laws should face severe consequences. Huawei is a repeat offender."

Asset blocking and prohibitive measures in dealing with the company

To do so, the lawmakers intend to have the Treasury Department add Huawei to its list of Specially Designated Nationals (SDNs). This is a list, published by the Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC), of individuals and companies "owned or controlled by, or acting for or on behalf of, targeted countries. It also lists individuals, groups, and entities, such as terrorists and narcotics traffickers designated under programs that are not country-specific."

By including these companies as SDNs, the senators intend to trigger the sanctions mandated by the Treasury: "Their assets are blocked and U.S. persons are generally prohibited from dealing with them."