NEW YORK / WASHINGTON (Reuters) – The Trump administration has notified Huawei suppliers, including chipmaker Intel, that it is withdrawing certain licenses to sell to the Chinese company and intends to suspend dozens of other applications for the telecommunications company, people familiar with the matter, to reject. told Reuters.
The action – probably the latest against Huawei Technologies under Republican President Donald Trump – is the latest attempt to weaken the world’s largest maker of telecommunications equipment, which he says is a threat to US national security and foreign policy interests.
The announcements come amid a spate of US efforts against China in the last days of Trump’s government. Democrat Joe Biden will take the oath of office on Wednesday.
An Intel Corp. spokesman did not immediately comment, and a Department of Commerce spokesman did not immediately return requests for comment.
In an email that Reuters saw documenting the actions, the Semiconductor Industry Association said Friday the Department of Commerce had “issued intentions to extend a significant number of license applications for exports to Huawei and a revocation of at least one previously.” to refuse an issued license. ‘ Sources familiar with the situation, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said there was more than one recall. According to one source, eight licenses were revoked from four companies.
Two of the sources said the Japanese flash memory chip maker, Kioxia Corp, had revoked at least one license. The company, formerly known as Toshiba Memory Corp, could not be immediately reached for comment.
The semiconductor association’s email says the actions span a ‘wide range’ of products in the semiconductor industry and ask companies if they have received notices.
The email notes that companies have been waiting for license decisions for several months and that the denial was in the administration for less than a week, was a challenge.
A spokesman for the semiconductor group did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Companies that have received the “intention to deny” notices have 20 days to respond, and the Department of Commerce has 45 days to notify the companies of any change in a decision, otherwise it becomes final. Businesses then have another 45 days to appeal.
The United States placed Huawei on a Department of Commerce “entity list” in May 2019, restricting suppliers from selling U.S. goods and technology to the company.
But some sales were allowed and others were denied while the United States lifted restrictions on the company, including expanding the U.S. government to require licenses to sell semiconductors made with U.S. technology abroad.
Prior to the latest action, there were about 150 licenses for goods and technology worth $ 120 billion, which were suspended because various US agencies could not agree on whether it should be granted, someone familiar with the matter said.
Another $ 280 billion license for goods and technology for Huawei has not yet been processed, the source said, but now it is likely to be denied.
According to an August rule, products with 5G capabilities are likely to be rejected, but sales of less sophisticated technology will be decided on a case-by-case basis.
The United States made the latest decisions at a half-dozen meetings beginning on January 4 with senior officials from the departments of trade, state, defense and energy. Officials developed detailed guidelines regarding what technology 5G is capable of, and then applied the standard, the person said.
In doing so, officials denied the vast majority of the approximately 150 disputed applications and revoked the eight licenses to comply with the new denials, the source said.
The US action comes after pressure from a recent Trump nominee in the trade department, Corey Stewart, who wanted to push through China’s harsh policies after being hired by the agency for two months at the end of the government.
The United States targeted Huawei in other ways during the administration. Meng Wanzhou, chief financial officer of Huawei, was arrested in Canada in December 2018 on the basis of a US warrant. Meng, the daughter of Huawei’s founder, and the company itself are being sued for misleading banks about the company’s business in Iran.
Meng said she was innocent. Huawei has denied the allegations of espionage and pleaded not guilty to the charge sheet, which also includes charges of violating U.S. sanctions against Iran and conspiracy to steal trade secrets from U.S. technology companies.
Reporting by Karen Freifeld and Alexandra Alper; edited by Chris Sanders and Jonathan Oatis