Biden Administration Urged to Use Export Controls to Halt Potential Huawei Foundry
The Biden administration should cripple Huawei’s plans to build a semiconductor foundry in Shenzhen through additional export controls, five Republican senators said in a recent letter to the White House. They said Huawei is using Pengxinwei (PXW) IC Manufacturing -- a startup launched by a former Huawei executive, Bloomberg reported -- to build a new chip foundry in a bid to evade U.S. trade restrictions. The letter was signed by Marsha Blackburn and Bill Hagerty, both of Tennessee, Tom Cotton of Arkansas, Ted Cruz of Texas and Marco Rubio of Florida.
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The U.S. should add Pengxinwei to the Entity List and to the list of Huawei subsidiaries subject to foreign direct product rule restrictions, the lawmakers said. “We are deeply concerned that, despite the obvious threat that PXW poses, your administration has taken no official steps to delay the project’s progress, despite being aware of the project for some time,” they said, adding that the Commerce Department hasn’t “sent a single ‘informed’ letter” to any entities working with PXW.
“It defies logic that, at the same time as your administration worked on a package of export controls on Chinese semiconductors, it has not used all the tools at its disposal to end PXW’s development,” the letter said. “Your administration should blacklist PXW immediately, unless you wish to preside over the unraveling of the U.S. campaign against Huawei" and the Chinese Communist Party's "bid for global 5G dominance.”
The White House didn’t comment. A Commerce Department spokesperson said Oct. 18 that the agency is “aware of” reports Huawei is attempting to circumvent U.S. restrictions on semiconductor exports to the company by providing money for Pengxinwei. Commerce is “working with the White House” to respond to those concerns, a spokesperson said. “BIS is conducting a review of existing policies related to China and will potentially seek to employ a variety of legal, regulatory, and, when relevant, enforcement tools to keep advanced technologies out of the wrong hands," the spokesperson said.