US Export-Import Bank Considers 5G Key to Competing With China

The U.S. Export-Import Bank focused on 5G during a teleconference on May 14 as part of its “Strengthening American Competitiveness” initiative. Chair Kimberly Reed said EXIM’s goal is that at least $27 billion of the bank’s funds be dedicated to exports that compete directly with China. “For us to be successful … it’s going to be critical for us to achieve tangible results in the form of completed deals that help specific businesses here in America generate exports and support U.S. jobs,” said Senior Vice President-Program on China and Transformational Exports David Trulio: “Economic security is national security.”

There's “no more important strategic technology race than the race to establish secure 5G,” said James Jones, former U.S. national security adviser, now at the Jones Group International. 5G “underpins” all the major technologies of the future, including artificial intelligence, robotics, quantum computing and biotechnology, Jones said. “The consequences” of losing “are much larger and geopolitical in nature” and will determine what the world will look like, he said.

China’s goals are “to subsidize, to win market entry and leverage geopolitical gain,” he said: “The strategy is being demonstrated all over the world as one of penetration, expansion and domination.” The U.S. can’t get other countries to not buy 5G technology from China without offering an alternative, he said. Samsung is based in South Korea but has a strong presence in the U.S., with many jobs here, said Terry Halvorsen, chief information officer-information technology and mobile communications. “Today, the world works in partnerships, and strong ally partnerships, strong business partnerships are needed to do well,” he said. “5G is going to play an amazing role in the new economy, particularly as we look at what the new world order is becoming with more mobile workers, more social distancing,” he said:

The U.S. will need “trusted partners.” Juniper Networks has found that the pricing of Chinese 5G gear and the financing provided are “far more aggressive than what a U.S. publicly traded company can provide,” said Michael Liebsch, managing director at Juniper Financial Services. “We have to partner” to provide “a full end-to-end solution” and then figure how to provide financing versus one of the Chinese competitors, he said. Security underpins every other concern, said Quinn Bottum, Swoop Search chief technology officer.

Companies are spending billions of dollars on security, but a hacker can spend thousands and take a system down, he said: “To really bring the value out of 5G, we have to solve that inflection point of security.” The goal is to not have U.S. companies lose deals based on foreign financing, Trulio said: “We want them to compete on a level playing field based on the quality of their products and services and financing should not that ends the deal in terms of who wins and loses.” The Chinese Embassy didn’t comment.