GOP Bill would Deny Capital to Huawei, Chinese Telecoms

(Image credit: Architect of the Capitol)

Republican Senators John Kennedy (La.) and Marco Rubio (Fla.) have introduced a bill that would deny some Chinese companies access to U.S. capital markets, including some familiar names in the suspect tech category.

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The American Financial Markets Integrity and Security Act would ban what it calls "malign" Chinese companies, which it defines as ones on the Department of Commerce's Entities list or the Defense Department's list of Chinese military companies, the former includes Chinese network tech company Huawei and telecoms China Mobile and China Telecommunications.

Kennedy and Rubio said that while the U.S. government has sanctioned the companies, they are still allowed to "operate in the U.S. capital market system while being involved in the Communist Party’s military, espionage, human rights abuses, 'Military-Civil Fusion Strategy' and the 'Made in China 2025' industrial policy."

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“The Chinese Communist Party shouldn’t find ready investors on U.S. soil," said Kennedy. "This is a national security priority."

Co-sponsors of the bill, all Republicans, include Sens. Mike Braun (Ind.), Tom Cotton (Ark.), Ben Sasse (Neb.) and Rick Scott (Fla.).

Another Republican, Rep. Mike Gallagher (Wis.) has introduced a House version of the bill.

Contributing editor John Eggerton has been an editor and/or writer on media regulation, legislation and policy for over four decades, including covering the FCC, FTC, Congress, the major media trade associations, and the federal courts. In addition to Multichannel News and Broadcasting + Cable, his work has appeared in Radio World, TV Technology, TV Fax, This Week in Consumer Electronics, Variety and the Encyclopedia Britannica.