Commerce Should Keep Huawei on Entity List, Continue China Restrictions, Nominee Says

Don Graves, President Joe Biden’s nominee for deputy commerce secretary, said export restrictions shouldn’t be removed from Huawei and that the Commerce Department should do more to promote U.S. leadership at international technology standards setting bodies. Graves also said he is open to imposing more export controls and other restrictions against China for human rights violations.

Graves has “no reason to believe that Huawei should be removed” from the Entity List “at this time,” he told the Senate Commerce, Science and Transportation Committee March 10. During her nomination hearing, Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo declined to say whether she planned to keep Huawei and other Chinese technology companies on the Entity List (see 2101260047).

Graves also stressed the importance of U.S. technological leadership and told lawmakers he wants to work with the staff at the National Institute of Standards and Technology “to make sure that they are prioritizing” technology standards setting, including standards over artificial intelligence. He also called for more cooperation with allies, including the European Union and Japan. “If we can spend the time working closely with the experts in industry and experts in research, research institutions and support the career staff at NIST, I believe that we will come up with standards that our allies across the globe will want to join in on,” Graves said, “and that will continue to allow us to lead.”

He also called China a “threat to our security and our prosperity and our values,” adding that the country has “hurt” U.S. companies, “blunted our technological advantage” and committed “gross” human rights violations. Graves added that Commerce should be open to imposing new restrictions against China to help U.S. businesses better compete across the world. “I would want to, if confirmed, use all the tools at our disposal, both defensive and offensive, to protect American businesses and prevent China from these types of illegal practices and illegal actions.”

Commerce should also do more to prioritize U.S. manufacturing, including through the use of export controls, Graves said. He said manufacturing is “vital” to the U.S. economy and said U.S. manufacturers are faced with unfair market access across the world. “We need to do more to increase the support for manufacturers,” Graves said, “and that includes a balance of ensuring that we have a fair and level playing field across the globe using the export controls that the department has.”