A senior U.S. Commerce Department official told Congress on Tuesday that Huawei Technologies Co. could produce the advanced chips used in its new smartphones at the scale or performance threshold needed to meet market demand. "It's impossible to match the market for this equipment, either in terms of performance or volume," Thea Kendler, assistant secretary of state for export management, said in testimony before the House Foreign Affairs Committee oversight panel.
"In addition, the semiconductor chips in mobile phones are worse than they were a few years ago," Kendler said. "So our export controls have the effect of slowing China's acquisition of advanced technology."
The U.S. Department of Commerce’s Bureau of Industry and Security is under pressure from Republicans to take tougher measures against Huawei and its chip manufacturing partner Semiconductor Manufacturing International Corp (or SMIC).
Foreign Affairs Committee Chairman Michael McCaul and others called on the Bureau of Industry and Security to completely cut off the two companies from American suppliers.
U.S. Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo said in an interview with Bloomberg News on Monday that the United States will take the "strongest" actions to protect its national security, while declining to confirm whether there is an investigation into Huawei or SMIC.