The Department of Defense has been granted a temporary reprieve from a law that bans the entire government from contracting with companies that use the technology of five major Chinese companies and their subsidiaries, including Huawei and ZTE.
The waiver, granted by the Office of the Director of National Intelligence, will allow DOD to continue to purchase basic “low risk, high volume items” from contractors whose supply chains may include tech made by the banned Chinese companies.
The law, Section 889, Part B of the 2019 National Defense Authorization Act, went into effect Aug. 13. It bars the government from contracting with any company that uses covered technology but has left many contractors still confused about how it will impact their business. Many questions remain as to what constitutes “use” of the technology and what specific affiliates from companies like Huawei are covered under the law. The waiver is temporary, only lasting through September.
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