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U.S. Poised to Sign 5G Accord With Poland Amid Huawei Concerns

U.S. Poised to Sign 5G Accord With Poland Amid Huawei Concerns

(Bloomberg) -- The U.S. and Poland are poised to sign an agreement on 5G security as President Donald Trump’s administration seeks to persuade European nations to block Huawei Technologies Co. and other China telecommunications firms from their networks.

A joint declaration on the technology could be signed as soon as this weekend as Vice President Mike Pence travels to Warsaw, according to a senior administration official who spoke on a call with reporters Friday on condition of anonymity.

The U.S. has been urging countries to assess the risk of espionage and manipulation from vendors of 5G technology. The Trump administration has taken particular aim at Huawei, telling allies that if they use the products made in China it will jeopardize U.S. willingness to share intelligence.

The agreement would be a small win for the U.S., which has struggled to get European nations on board with its Huawei ban. It follows a non-binding agreement hammered out by 30 countries in May -- the Prague Proposals -- which outlined a common approach to network security, the official said.

Yet the agreement with Poland would have limited impact on U.S. national security if other European allies don’t effectively ban Huawei as well. And according to the official, the agreement with Poland is not expected to name any individual country or company but will affect well-known telecommunications suppliers.

The security of 5G is one of several issues -- including energy security, terrorism and the economy -- that Pence plans to address on his trip to Poland, where he will be representing the U.S. in place of Trump, who has opted to stay in the U.S. as Hurricane Dorian bears down on Florida.

To contact the reporter on this story: Alyza Sebenius in Washington at asebenius@bloomberg.net

To contact the editors responsible for this story: Alex Wayne at awayne3@bloomberg.net, Joshua Gallu, Justin Blum

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