New US Department of Commerce regulations: "Conditionally" allow US companies to cooperate with Huawei to develop 5G standards

On June 18, the Bureau of Industry and Security (BIS) of the U.S. Department of Commerce published a new interim final rule in the Federal Register, which amended the Export Administration Regulations (EAR) (15 CFR Parts 730-774) to exclude additional licensing requirements for technologies designated by Huawei organizations on the Entity List that are related to establishing 5G application standards.

The rule states that, given the importance of U.S. participation and leadership in standards organizations and in light of the ongoing concerns raised by Huawei’s participation in standards organizations, the rule amends the Entity List to authorize the release of certain unlicensed technologies.

It is reported that if the technology is released for the purpose of openness, balance, due process, etc., it may be released to unauthorized members of the standards organization, including Huawei, to help revise or develop standards, as EAR99 or EAR technology controlled in the Commerce Control List only for anti-terrorism (AT) reasons.

Under the new regulations, U.S. companies can directly disclose and discuss relevant technical details with Huawei in certain scenarios, without having to report to the U.S. government first. In May last year, the United States included Huawei in the "Entity List", which means that U.S. companies need a license from the U.S. Department of Commerce's Bureau of Industry and Security (BIS) to sell or transfer the country's technology to Huawei.