The United Global Leadership (5G)
January 23, 2020
Mr. Robert O’Brien Mr. Lawrence Kudlow Assistant to the President Assistant to the President
for National Security Affairs for Economic Policy
The White House
Mr. Robert Blair
Special Representative for International
Telecommunications Policy
1600 Pennsylvania Avenue, N.W.
Washington, D.C. 20500 Washington, D.C. 20500
Dear Messrs. O’Brien, Kudlow, and Blair:
As conservative leaders concerned about maintaining the United States’ global leadership
position in creating, researching, and deploying next-generation wireless technology (“5G”), we urge the
Trump Administration to protect U.S. national security by taking steps to develop a governmentwide
strategy to protect our leadership position in critical technologies like 5G. We applaud the appointment of
Mr. Blair to serve as the Administration’s 5G lead, and hope that the White House will take an active role
in promoting U.S. 5G leadership. In light of competition from Chinese companies that receive significant
financial and political support from their government, the challenge of protecting U.S. leadership is truly
a national imperative that requires a serious governmentwide approach, while working closely with
private sector leaders.
Technological superiority is a critical part of our national security. In a report released in
December, the Ronald Reagan Institute Task Force on 21st Century National Security Technology and
Workforce noted, “China aims to supplant the United States as the world’s leading technological power
by 2030” and hopes to “lead the world in cutting-edge technologies that might allow it to leapfrog the
The United States both economically and militarily.”
As the Reagan Task Force explains, in the U.S., “many of the technologies most important to
national security are being developed and produced for civilian purposes by civilian actors who have no
history with or connected to the national security community.” China, on the other hand, drives
innovation from the top-down, with the most innovative Chinese companies working side-by-side with
the Communist Party to develop technologies for both civilian and military use, including 5G. Our U.S.
national security thus depends on U.S. innovators competing with — and beating — China in these
critical technologies.
We caution that any strategy to protect U.S. national security from Chinese technological
dominance in 5G must focus on maintaining U.S. leadership in 5G R&D. So-called “decoupling” —
effectively creating two separate wireless technology regimes, one led by the U.S. and one led by China --
would undermine American companies’ and thus America’s ability to innovate in 5G, which is exactly the
opposite of our goals. We must instead play to U.S. strengths, which include private property rights-based incentives, market competition, and R&D’s risk and reward that may result in large payoffs for
recouping sunk costs as well as dynamic competition benefiting consumers worldwide while fueling
innovation in the U.S.A.
The United Global Leadership (pg2)
The United Global Leadership (pg2)
We’re concerned that the risks to our national security of decoupling from China far outweigh any
benefit. Thus, we urge the Trump Administration to consider the impact on U.S. innovation leadership
when imposing restrictions on the ability of U.S. companies to sell non-national security technologies in
China. Innovative U.S. businesses depend heavily on the licensing of U.S. patented technology and the
sale of American products, technologies, and services in the China market to generate revenue that they
can spend on R&D, largely here in the United States. Dividing wireless technology into two spheres of
influence would damage our national security, both by preventing China from adopting — and paying
U.S. innovators for — U.S.-made wireless technology, and by restricting the ability of U.S. innovators to
participate in the development of global wireless standards.
Decoupling threatens U.S. innovation, isolates the United States from the largest market in the
world for wireless products, and threatens our national security by exposing global wireless networks to
Chinese dominance. Instead, the Administration must ensure continued U.S. global leadership in 5G.
This requires technology companies’ ability to compete with China’s on a global scale, and that U.S.
technology play a leading role in developing global 5G standards. As you know, 5G standards-setting is
reaching a critical stage, making pursuit of a competition strategy rather than decoupling all the more
important. Our national security starts with the science and standards that form the foundation of any new
technology. Ceding this leadership to foreign technologies will leave U.S. citizens, businesses, and
governments vulnerable. One concrete step the Administration can take is to clarify that U.S. companies
can fully participate in 5G standards development bodies that include Huawei and other Chinese
companies without violating export controls regulations. Such guidance is critical to ensuring that
standards bodies are not dominated by Chinese technologies and U.S. companies are on a level playing
field.
We strongly believe that the White House must lead a comprehensive, government-wide strategy
to protect our national security in a connected world. Rather than broadly restrict business with China,
we should leverage our most significant asset — unmatched innovation for next-generation wireless
technologies like 5G and beyond — to ensure that these technologies, built on a U.S.-invented
foundation, are adopted around the world. By this, we ensure a U.S. competitive and trade advantage
over Chinese technology champions, forcing them to buy American core, state-of-the-art technology as
5G blooms and spurs new applications and uses.
We look forward to engaging further with you and the Administration on these issues, and
working together to support continued U.S. leadership in global innovation.
Sincerely,
James Edwards Hon. J. Kenneth Blackwell
Executive Director Chairman Chairman
Conservatives for Property Rights Constitutional Congress, Inc
Seton Motley Kevin L. Kearns
President President
Less Government U.S. Business & Industry Council
Ed Martin Daniel Schneider
President Executive Director
Phyllis Schlafly Eagles American Conservative Union
George Landrith Tim Andrews
President Executive Director
Frontiers of Freedom Taxpayers Protection Alliance
The United Global Leadership (pg3)
The United Global Leadership (pg3)
Jenny Beth Martin Ron Pearson
Chairman Executive Director
Tea Party Patriots Action Conservative Victory Fund
Dick Patten Kevin D. Freeman, CFA-Host
President Host Economic War Room with Kevin Freeman
American Business Defense Council
Gerrye Johnston/Founder CEO Saulius “Saul” Anuzis
Men and Women for a Representative President Democracy in America, Inc. 60 Plus Association
Richard A. Viguerie/Chairman
Conservative HQ.Com
Jim Martin
Founder/Chairman
Charles Sauer
President
Market Institute