WASHINGTON, April 25 (Reuters) - Republican China

hardliner Marco Rubio is calling on the Biden administration to

block all sales to Huawei after the sanctioned Chinese tech

company released a new AI-enabled laptop powered by an Intel

AI processor chip.

The release of Huawei's first AI-enabled laptop, the

MateBook X Pro powered by Intel's ( INTC ) new Core Ultra 9 processor,

last week drew fire from Republican lawmakers, who said it

suggests that the Commerce Department had given the greenlight

to Intel ( INTC ) to sell the chip to Huawei.

If the Commerce Department did authorize the shipment, "this

would be unacceptable and a failure to enforce export controls

against a blacklisted champion of the Chinese Communist Party

(CCP)," Rubio and Republican Congresswoman Elise Stefanik said

in a letter to Commerce Department Secretary Gina Raimondo.

"We urge you to reconsider this damaging posture and

immediately revoke all export licenses to Huawei," they added in

the letter which was seen by Reuters.

The letter adds to mounting pressure on the Biden

administration to take more drastic measures to hobble Huawei.

Some of its businesses are seeing somewhat of a resurgence

despite the company having long been in Washington's crosshairs

over national security concerns.

Huawei did not respond to a request for comment. Intel ( INTC ) said

it "strictly complies with all the laws and regulations in the

countries where we do business." A Commerce Department

spokesperson said the agency had received the letter and will

respond but did not comment further.

The Chinese Embassy said it opposes "excluding specific

companies from specific countries," and abusing the concept of

national security to suppress foreign companies without any

conclusive evidence.

The United States placed Huawei on a trade restriction list

in 2019 amid fears it could spy on Americans, part of a broader

effort to handicap China's ability to bolster its military.

Being added to the list means the company's suppliers have to

seek a special, difficult-to-obtain license before shipping.

Even so, suppliers to Huawei have received billions of

dollars worth of licenses to sell it goods and technology,

including one particularly controversial authorization, issued

by the Trump administration, which has allowed Intel ( INTC ) to ship

central processors to Huawei for use in its laptops since 2020.

Critics argue such licenses have contributed to the

company's resurgence.

Huawei shocked the industry last August with a new phone

powered by a sophisticated chip manufactured by Chinese

chipmaker SMIC despite U.S. export restrictions on

both companies. The phone helped Huawei smartphone sales spike

64% year on year in the first six weeks of 2024, according to

research firm Counterpoint.