Legislation barring the sale of national security-sensitive technology to China has been introduced to the United States Senate by Republican Marco Rubio, in another effort to crack down on the supposed theft of US intellectual property.
The proposed Fair Trade with China Enforcement Act would also block government or contractors from buying telecommunications equipment and services from Chinese tech giants ZTE and Huawei.
In addition, the draft legislation imposes higher taxes on any income from China being made by US multinational companies, as well as levelling duties and caps on shares held by Chinese investors in US companies that produce goods under the "Made in China 2025" initiative, which aims to catch China up with the US and Germany across robotics, aerospace, and clean-energy cars.
"How America responds to the growing threats posed by China is the single most important geopolitical issue of our time, and will define the 21st century," Rubio said when introducing the Bill.
The introduction of the Bill follows the heads of the CIA, FBI, NSA, and the director of national intelligence to the Senate Intelligence Committee recommending in February that Americans not use products from Huawei and ZTE[1].
Read more: Paranoia will destroy us: Why Chinese tech isn't spying on Americans[2]
ZTE was then issued with an export ban[3] last month by the US Department of Commerce, which alleged that the Chinese tech company had lied to the Bureau of Industry and Security about disciplinary actions following illegal shipments of equipment to Iran and North Korea.
ZTE had been fined $1.2 billion[4] by the US for directly, or through third-party distributors, shipping $32 million in American-made telecommunications