Huawei’s European competitors, Ericsson and Nokia, could become a supplier duopoly should the Chinese be shut out.
The bill stems from a 2019 U.S.-Romania memorandum under which the two governments had said: “as part of a risk-based security approach, careful and complete evaluation of 5G vendors is necessary,” with those controlled by a foreign government and lacking a transparent ownership structure ruled out.
Washington sees Huawei as an arm of China’s Communist Party’s global surveillance machinery. Huawei has repeatedly denied spying for the Chinese state.