FirstFT: US halts licences in latest broadside against Huawei

The Biden administration has stopped providing US companies with licences to export to Huawei as it moves towards imposing a total ban on the sale of American technology to the Chinese telecom equipment giant.

Several people familiar with discussions inside the administration said the commerce department had notified some companies that it would no longer grant licences to export American technology to Huawei. The move marks the latest prong in Washington’s campaign to curb the tech company, which national security officials believe helps China engage in espionage.

The Trump administration imposed severe restrictions on exporting technology to Huawei, but the commerce department had granted licences to some companies for products that were not related to high-speed 5G telecom networks. However Alan Estevez, head of the commerce department’s bureau of industry and service, has been leading a review of China-related policy in an effort to determine whether the US would take further steps to restrict such exports.

The move comes as Washington steps up efforts to work with allies to slow China’s push to develop cutting-edge technology such semiconductors that are used in artificial intelligence and hypersonic weapons. The US last week reached a trilateral deal with Japan and the Netherlands that would impose restrictions on companies in those countries exporting certain chipmaking equipment to China.

Five more stories in the news

1. Abu Dhabi’s IHC to invest $400mn in Adani share sale Abu Dhabi’s International Holding Company plans to invest $400mn in a share sale by Indian billionaire Gautam Adani’s flagship group, a boost to a business empire rocked over the past week by allegations of fraud.

2. Central banks set to lift interest rates to 15-year highs The world’s leading central banks are poised to raise interest rates this week to their highest levels since the financial crisis, stoking anxiety among some investors that this month’s record bond market rally underestimates the growing evidence of persistent inflation.

3. Nato chief calls on South Korea to provide military aid to Ukraine Jens Stoltenberg has called on South Korea to supply military assistance to Ukraine on a visit to Seoul today. He thanked the conservative government of President Yoon Suk-yeol for providing non-lethal aid to Ukraine but urged it to do more, stressing Kyiv’s “urgent need” for ammunition.

4. Twitter pays first $300mn interest payment after Musk buyout The company settled the quarterly interest payment on Friday with a group of seven lenders led by Morgan Stanley, the people said. The looming bill had been closely watched as the first big test of Musk’s financial stewardship of Twitter and as concerns about its financial health have mounted.

5. Renault and Nissan salvage alliance Renault and Nissan have hammered out a historic deal to salvage their troubled 24-year-old alliance and convince both sides that the partnership can survive without its former supremo, Carlos Ghosn. Read on for details of the proposed deal.

The day ahead

World Economic Outlook update The IMF publishes its twice yearly report in Singapore at 9:30am.

Adani share sale to close Books are set to close on Adani’s offering today. Adani Enterprise said over the weekend that its follow-on public offering of shares would proceed as planned, despite concerns that it would struggle to attract investors following allegations from US short seller Hindenburg.

India Economic Survey Data on how the economy fared in the last year and how it is projected to grow during the next fiscal year is set to be published.

Federal Reserve meeting The US Federal Reserve is widely expected to slow its pace of interest rate increases at its meeting on today and tomorrow.

Results Earnings are expected from companies including Caterpillar, ExxonMobil, Fujitsu, General Motors, McDonald’s, Mondelez, Pfizer Q4, Samsung Electronics, Snap, Spotify, UBS and UniCredit.

To coincide with Martin Wolf’s new book, The Crisis of Democratic Capitalism, join Martin and other thought leaders online for a subscriber-exclusive event today. Register for free here.

What else we’re reading

China’s film industry shoots for post-Covid recovery Will the end of Covid restrictions encourage one of the world’s biggest film audiences to return to the cinema? Declining financing, censorship and changing tastes could all scupper the industry’s hopes of a strong recovery after three years of lockdowns shut theatres across the country.

How the war in Ukraine met the culture wars Vladimir Putin is flirting with an important constituency in the west — cultural conservatives who are so disgusted by the alleged decadence of their own societies that they are attracted to Putin’s Russia, writes Gideon Rachman.

‘Privacy has been extinguished. It is now a zombie’ Shoshana Zuboff took aim at the tech industry in 2019 with her book, The Age of Surveillance Capitalism, about how companies made billions by sucking up private data. In this interview with Henry Mance, Zuoff expresses her frustration with efforts to rein in Big Tech and calls for a right to sanctuary from data “theft”.

The grim world of office spyware TimeCamp says it provides time-tracking software but the rest of us call it workplace spyware, bossware or tattleware. The company made headlines around the world this month when it appeared in a Canadian court case. Pilita Clark spoke to the founder of TimeCamp about his company’s new found notoriety.

Why I’m only buying five new things in 2023 To combat climate change, experts advise we place strict limits on our spending habits. FT fashion editor Lauren Indvik offers her shopping list.

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