Recent reports that Chinese chipmaker Huawei Technologies Co. had made a breakthrough in the manufacture of semiconductor chips is “incredibly disturbing” according to US Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo, and just highlights how the department needs to be given more tools to enforce export controls on high technologies to hostile nations.
In a Senate Commerce Committee hearing, she said, “We need different tools. We need additional resources around enforcement.”
Raimondo called attention to a legislative proposal which had stalled, which would have expanded the agency’s authority over technology sales which pose a threat to national security. She also pointed to an alternative risk mitigation framework proposed by Senator Maria Cantwell, designed to control supply chains. Meanwhile, Raimondo refused to comment on an investigation by the department into a new Huawei smartphone which utilizes an advanced 7 nanometer chip.
Raimondo expressed pride in the fact her department had imposed the biggest fine in history on an American company for exporting items to Huawei without first obtaining the appropriate license. She said, “We’re tough as we need to be, but we need more resources.”
The hearing was her second appearance before Congress since she had made a diplomatic trip to China to improve diplomatic relations between Washington and Beijing following months of growing tensions over Washington’s attempts to limit China’s access to advanced technologies.
The Huawei phone, released while Raimondo was touring China, has ignited debates over the effectiveness of Washington’s ability to limit China’s technological advancements, with Raimondo’s role in containing technology transfers to China, coming under increasing scrutiny.
Although Raimondo said in House testimony that she sees no indication that China can produce 7 nanometer chips at scale, she is still coming under intense political scrutiny from Republicans to further tighten technology controls, and to do so quickly.
Simultaneous with its attempts to expand technology controls and limit Beijing’s access to advanced technologies, the administration is seeking to improve relations with China, in order to lay the groundwork for a potential meeting between President Biden and Chinese leader Xi Jinping during the Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation forum in San Francisco.
