Global Trade & Foreign Policy Insights

ACI held its annual CFIUS conference from April 27 to 28 in Washington, D.C., bringing together practitioners and government officials to discuss a range of CFIUS topics. On the government side, the two-day event involved significant participation by the Department of Defense (DoD), which was represented by officials on a majority of the panels. The following are the key takeaways.

On Tuesday, March 1, The Wall Street Journal reported that the Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States approved a Chinese investment in Icon Aircraft, Inc., a California-based maker of small recreational vehicles.

On August 19, 2019, the Bureau of Industry and Security (BIS) released two announcements regarding Huawei, which was added to the Entity List earlier this year along with 68 associated companies. First, BIS announced that it was extending the Temporary General License (TGL) that was set to expire August 19, 2019, allowing continued maintenance activities to existing Huawei networks and devices until November 18, 2019. Second, BIS added an additional 46 Huawei-affiliated companies to the Entity List.

The U.S. government continues its push against one of the world’s largest telecommunications manufacturer, Huawei Technologies Co. Ltd., by issuing a ban on federal purchases from the tech giant.

The United States’ relationship with Chinese telecom giant Huawei sits on rapidly-shifting sands and seems to be a bargaining chip in the ongoing trade war between the U.S. and China.