WASHINGTON (BLOOMBERG) – President Joe Biden’s nominee for Commerce Secretary, Ms Gina Raimondo, said she knows of “no reason” why Huawei Technologies Co, ZTE Corp and other Chinese companies shouldn’t remain on a restricted trade list.

Ms Raimondo, in written questions from Senate Republicans, was asked about the two companies, as well as Semiconductor Manufacturing International Corporation and Hangzhou Hikvision Digital Technology Co, besides others.

They are on a list that requires US firms to obtain government licences if they want to sell American tech and intellectual property to the Chinese companies.

“I understand that parties are placed on the Entity List and the Military End User List generally because they pose a risk to US national security or foreign policy interests,” said Ms Raimondo, the governor of Rhode Island.

“I currently have no reason to believe that entities on those lists should not be there. If confirmed, I look forward to a briefing on these entities and others of concern.”

Ms Raimondo, when asked about the issue during her Jan 26 Senate confirmation hearing, did not specifically commit to keeping Huawei on the list.

That prompted several House Republicans to ask their Senate counterparts to delay her confirmation.

The Senate Commerce, Science and Transportation Committee voted 21-3 on Wednesday to advance her nomination.

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