According to the regulations, the four U.S. federal agencies are not allowed to purchase certain technical equipment produced in China unless they have completed the information security risk assessment and obtained the approval of the Federal Bureau of investigation (FBI) or other law enforcement departments. Agencies subject to this regulation include NASA, the Department of justice, the Department of Commerce, and the National Science Foundation. The regulation applies to information technology systems manufactured or assembled in China.
The U.S. Chamber of Commerce and 10 technology trade groups wrote to Congress on Thursday, asking to ensure that such restrictions are not included in future government procurement bills. These trade organizations represent a number of large US technology companies, such as HP and Intel.
This provision was incorporated into the US government's working capital act last month and will remain in force until September. However, American technology companies do not want to keep this provision in the future government procurement act or extend it to other departments of the federal government. Technology companies worry that the FBI investigation will affect their sales to the U.S. government.
These business groups said in the email: 'they are required to evaluate every purchase of IT products without setting any minimum limit, which will delay the federal government's procurement process. 'the organizations that signed this email also include the semiconductor industry association of America and the technology industry CEO Committee.
The White House has yet to respond to requests from the business groups. The U.S. Congress added such restrictions at the last minute of the bill. Chinese telecom equipment manufacturers are providing more and more key network equipment to the United States, and the computer system in the United States is very vulnerable to Chinese hackers, which has aroused the concern of the government and Congress.
Although the bill stipulates that the FBI will evaluate the procurement of relevant information technology systems, it does not make a specific definition of 'information technology systems' and does not specify which equipment can be purchased without evaluation.
The Chinese government has objected to the provisions of the bill. U.S. business groups are worried that China and other countries may take trade retaliation measures against the U.S. and demand that U.S. made technology equipment be evaluated in government procurement.
John Neuffer, senior vice president of global policy at the US Information Technology Industry Council, said the clause set a bad precedent for the rest of the world. The committee represents hardware and software vendors such as IBM and Lenovo.