U.S. legislators introduce bill to limit Huawei’s access banks

(Reuters) – The United States has introduced a bipartisan bill that would sanction Huawei Technologies Ltd. and Chinese 5G companies. This would prevent them from accessing U.S. banking institutions.

The bill was presented by Republican senator Tom Cotton, supported by Senator Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, a Democrat. It seeks “severe sanction” Huawei and other “untrustworthy Chinese” 5G producers, who they accuse of engaging in economic espionage to the U.S.

These entities will be added to the Treasury Department’s Specially Designated Nationals List (SDN), effectively freezing out the U.S. financial sector.

Reuters reached Huawei for comment but they did not respond immediately.

In the past, lawmakers tried to restrict Huawei’s access U.S. bank accounts. They proposed a similar bill in 2020 while President Donald Trump was in office.

Cotton stated in a Tuesday statement that “We have made great strides in recent times at home and abroad against Huawei’s malign efforts to dominate 5G, steal Americans’ data,” Cotton added.

He said, “We cannot allow Huawei or the Chinese Communist Party access to Americans’ personal information and our most sensitive defense systems”

U.S. prosecutors indicted two Chinese intelligence officials for trying to interfere with the Huawei investigation. Two Chinese nationals attempted to recruit an American law enforcement agent to be their spy. But the recruit was in fact working for the United States.

The U.S. Federal Communications Commission approved rules last month banning Huawei’s new telecommunications equipment.

(Reporting by Baranjot Kaur in Bengaluru. Gerry Doyle Editing