Clete Willems Speaks with The Wall Street Journal and CNBC on Huawei Trade Ban

July 22, 2019

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Jacinta O'Shea-Ramdeholl

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Akin Gump public law and policy partner Clete Willems has been quoted by The Wall Street Journal in the article “Trump Agrees to ‘Timely’ Licensing Decision for Huawei Sales.”

The article reports that President Trump recently met with top U.S. technology industry executives in a show of solidarity, as the administration considers easing restrictions on sales to China’s Huawei Technologies. Willems, who recently left the White House after serving as a top trade negotiator, said easing restrictions on Huawei makes sense as long as U.S. security is not compromised.

“When we say national security, we should mean national security,” Willems said. “Otherwise, we’ll have China turning around and saying they are doing things for national security purposes where it’s not justifiable.”

Willems also appeared on CNBC, where he stated that “the United States is going to handle [the Huawei situation] in an appropriate manner. And that’s that the U.S. is going to crack down on transactions that pose core national security threats but that they’re going to let things move forward where those same concerns aren’t raised.”

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