Moolenaar Weighs into International Trade Commission Case, Calls for Import Ban on CCP-Backed BOE Displays

WASHINGTON DC — Chairman John Moolenaar (R-MI) of the House Select Committee on the Chinese Communist Party wrote to the U.S. International Trade Commission today, urging the commission to follow through on a ruling and bar a Chinese company, BOE Technology Group, from importing products to the United States. In November, the ITC found that BOE infringed on multiple U.S. patents, however the ITC is set to still permit BOE products in the United States, despite the company being guilty of flagrant Chinese Communist Party-sponsored IP theft.

BOE is a Chinese state-subsidized LCD (liquid crystal display) and OLED (organic light emitting diode) company. While LCD and OLED technologies are found in household items like television and phone screens, the technologies also play a critical role in military and weapon systems. Chinese LCD and OLED companies now hold a significant portion of the global display market, posing a supply chain threat to our military. In September, Chairman Moolenaar asked the Pentagon to list BOE as a Chinese military company. BOE was founded as a supplier to the People’s Liberation Army, many of its clients are suppliers, and most recently, the ITC determined BOE infringed on multiple U.S. patents. 

In the letter to ITC Chair Rhonda Schmidtlein, Chairman Moolenaar writes, “If the Commission declines to ban imports of BOE’s displays—which has been clearly implicated in infringing on U.S. patents— BOE’s IP theft will continue to benefit the PRC’s military-civil fusion strategy, and BOE’s growing dominance in the display industry will leave the United States overly reliant on the PRC for an advanced technology critical to military applications. Additionally, the Commission will be sending a dangerous message to the PRC that its companies can continue to steal American IP at will.”

Read Chairman Moolenaar’s letter to the ITC HERE