Research on the Standard of “National Security” in the U.S. Export Controls on Technologies and Analysis of Its WTO Obligations –Thinking Raised by U.S. Ban on Huawei

International Journal of Research and Innovation in Social Science (IJRISS) | Volume III, Issue X, October 2019 | ISSN 2454–6186

Research on the Standard of “National Security” in the U.S. Export Controls on Technologies and Analysis of Its WTO Obligations –Thinking Raised by U.S. Ban on Huawei

Zhenyuan Guo¹

¹LL.M. of Melbourne Law School, The University of Melbourne, Australia

Abstract: “National security” is an important factor for a country to decide on export control, but its standards in practice are rarely analyzed. The case of “U.S. Ban on Huawei” in the United States showed that the standards of “national security” in export control on technologies in the U.S has great generality and vagueness, even has become an excuse for political considerations. This paper starts with the development of U.S. export control system, on the basis of the analysis of its own legal system, combined with the “national security” and cases in the U.S. foreign investment laws, trying to research the standard of “national security” in the U.S. export control of technologies. Further, through the analysis of the “security exception” clause in the WTO system, the author proves that the practice of the United States in the case of “Huawei ban” and its attitude towards the export control of technologies has violated its WTO obligations.

Key Words: U.S. Export Controls on Technologies; Entity List; national security; GATT Article XXI

I. INTRODUCTION

On May 17, 2019, the Bureau of Industry and Security (BIS, the sub-department under Ministry of Commerce of the United States, which responsible for export controls) has decided to add Huawei Technologies Co., Ltd (Huawei) and its non-U.S. affiliates to the Entity List, based on the Export Administrations Regulations (EAR).

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