President Trump has signed an executive order for securing the information and communications technology and services supply chain, preventing US companies from doing business with any company flagged as a national security risk.
The decision was prompted by Chinese telecommunications equipment and consumer electronics manufacturer Huawei, which is suspected of producing hardware the Chinese government can use to spy on US citizens. It effectively bans Huawei not only from buying US technology, but also keeps their equipment out of US telecom networks.
With Huawei on the Entity List, U.S. suppliers will need to apply for licenses to provide the Chinese company with anything subject to U.S. export control regulations. Obtaining such licenses will be difficult because they will have to show the transfer of items will not harm U.S. national security, said John Larkin, a former export control officer in Beijing for the Commerce Department.