The US government want to stop its bodies from buying goods or services from companies that use products from five Chinese companies, namely Huawei, video surveillance specialists Hikvision and Dahua, Hytera and ZTE, Reuters reported, citing a US official. The government hopes to pass the regulations this week, meaning companies that sell goods and services to the US government would need to certify that they do not use products from these companies.
The US government awards over USD 500 billion worth of contracts per year, according to the Government Accountability Office.
The regulation is far reaching in its consequences. Amazon, for example, received 1,500 cameras from Dahua, to take temperatures of its workers during the coronavirus pandemic. Amazon’s cloud unit is a major contractor with the US intelligence community, and is vying with Microsoft for a could computing contract with the Pentagon worth up to USD 10 billion.
The ban was first introduced as part of the 2019 National Defense Authorization Act. Contractors had until 13 August 2020 to comply but companies soon pointed out ambiguities in the law. The administration is now making it clear that it will not be delayed and that waivers may be difficult to get. The official said the administration will make agencies conduct a national security analysis before granting any waivers.
The official added that the rule is aimed at more than just barring government agencies from using products from Huawei and other named Chinese firms, but is a bid to limit their influence. It is saying in essence, do business with the US government or with the Chinese firms.
The US last year placed Huawei, Hikvision and other firms on its economic blacklist, barring the firms from buying components from US companies without US government approval. On 30 June, the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) formally designated Huawei and ZTE as posing threats to US national security, a declaration that bars US companies firms from using any money from am USD 8.3 billion government fund to purchase equipment from the companies.
