US lawmakers urge investigation into Spain's deal with Huawei amid national security concerns

A pair of American lawmakers have accused the Spanish government of putting US national security at risk by contracting the Chinese telecommunications giant Huawei to handle sensitive data.

Pedro Sánchez's government has been facing backlash for weeks over the multimillion-euro deal, which would see Huawei manage and store sensitive data related to judicial wiretaps.

US President Donald Trump's administration has demanded that Sánchez cancel the agreement, threatening to cut off intelligence cooperation. The US considers Huawei an extension of the Chinese state and a potential instrument of espionage.

The Spanish government has kept publicly quiet amid the criticism.

Now, two US Congressmen are raising their own concerns. In a letter to US Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick dated August 8, they said the plan has serious implications for US digital security, privacy, and commercial interests, and that it would hurt US workers.

Reps. Richard Hudson and Gus Bilirakis, both Republicans, cited Huawei's ties to the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) and noted that Trump previously banned Huawei and another Chinese firm, ZTE, from US telecommunications infrastructure in 2019.

The key American concern is that Huawei will be forced to share data under the mandate of Xi Jinping's Chinese government, and that this sensitive information will fall into the hands of the CCP.

In the letter, Hudson and Bilirakis accused the EU and especially Spain of having a double standard, restricting data transfers with the US on privacy grounds, but allowing the free flow of data to China. They said the US-EU Data Privacy Framework (DPF) has been invalidated several times by the EU, creating legal uncertainty for US companies.

The lawmakers called on the US Commerce Department to investigate decisions by Spain and other EU governments that may adversely affect US digital commerce.

The European Commission, the European Union's executive arm, has also raised concerns over Huawei and ZTE.

In 2023, the Commission said member states would be "justified" in restricting or excluding the Chinese companies from their 5G networks because they come with "materially higher risks than other 5G suppliers".