A group of United States politicians want to ban the sale of US technology components to Huawei, ZTE Corp or other Chinese telecommunications companies that violate US sanctions or export laws.

Key points: The Trump administration is targeting Chinese firms accused of illegal trade practices

The Trump administration is targeting Chinese firms accused of illegal trade practices Washington has also been pressing allies to refrain from buying Huawei products

Washington has also been pressing allies to refrain from buying Huawei products Diplomatic tensions are rising between China and the US, as well as its allies

Bipartisan-backed legislation was introduced shortly before a newspaper report emerged revealing federal prosecutors are investigating Huawei for allegedly stealing trade secrets from US businesses and could soon issue an indictment.

Citing people familiar with the matter, the Wall Street Journal reported one area of investigation is the technology behind a device US firm T-Mobile used for testing smartphones. The report could not be immediately confirmed.

The action is the latest in a long list taken to fight what some in the Trump administration have branded China's cheating through intellectual property theft, illegal corporate subsidies and rules hampering US corporations that want to sell their goods in China.

In November, the US Department of Justice unveiled an initiative to investigate China's trade practices with the goal of bringing trade secret theft cases.

At the time, Washington had announced an indictment against Chinese chipmaker Fujian Jinhua for stealing trade secrets from US semiconductor company Micron Technology relating to research and development of memory storage devices.

Jinhua, which has denied any wrongdoing, was put on a list of entities that cannot buy goods from US firms.

US politicians unite against Huawei

In Washington, senator Tom Cotton and representative Mike Gallagher, both Republicans, along with senator Chris Van Hollen and representative Ruben Gallego, both Democrats, introduced the bills which would require the President to ban the export of US chips and other components to any Chinese telecommunications company that violates US sanctions or export control laws.

The arrest of Huawei chief financial officer Meng Wanzhou has proved to be a source of diplomatic tension. ( Supplied: Huawei.com )

The bills specifically cite ZTE and Huawei, both of which are viewed with suspicion in the US because of fears their technology could be used to spy on Americans.

"Huawei is effectively an intelligence-gathering arm of the Chinese Communist Party whose founder and CEO was an engineer for the People's Liberation Army," Senator Cotton wrote in a statement.

"If Chinese telecom companies like Huawei violate our sanctions or export control laws, they should receive nothing less than the death penalty — which this denial order would provide."

US President Donald Trump has also reportedly been considering a ban on Huawei.

In addition to making allegations of sanctions busting and intellectual property theft, Washington has been pressing allies to refrain from buying Huawei's devices because of fears they will be used by Beijing for espionage.

Huawei's founder, Ren Zhengfei, denied this week his company was used by the Chinese Government to spy.

Trade and diplomatic tensions rising

Canadian authorities last month arrested Mr Ren's daughter, Huawei executive Meng Wanzhou, on the request of the US, which wants to extradite her to face charges that she violated US sanctions against Iran.

Canadians Michael Spavor and Michael Kovrig have been detained in China on suspicion of endangering state security. ( AP )

China subsequently detained two Canadians, raising diplomatic tensions between China and Canada, and drawing in Western allies such as the US and Australia.

The trade secrets investigation arose from civil lawsuits against Huawei, the Wall Street Journal said, including one in Seattle where Huawei was found liable for misappropriating robotic technology from T-Mobile.

A Huawei spokesman and a spokeswoman for the US attorney in the western district of Washington declined to comment.

T-Mobile alleged in a 2014 lawsuit that Huawei employees stole technology relating to a smartphone-testing robot T-Mobile had in a lab in Bellevue, Washington.

The robot, Tappy, used human-like fingers to simulate tapping on mobile phones.

According to T-Mobile's lawsuit, Huawei employees photographed the robot and attempted to remove one of its parts.

In May 2017, a jury said Huawei should pay T-Mobile $US4.8 million ($6.69 million) in damages.

Reuters/ABC