US revokes licenses to supply chips to Chinese Huawei

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The Biden administration has revoked export licenses that allow Intel and Qualcomm to supply semiconductors to Huawei, as Washington increases pressure on the Chinese telecommunications equipment company.

The US Commerce Department’s move affects the supply of chips to Huaweicompany laptops and cell phones, according to people familiar with the situation.

The Commerce Department confirmed to the Financial Times that it had “revoked certain export licenses for Huawei”, but did not reveal which US companies would be affected.

“We continually evaluate how our controls can best protect our national security and foreign policy interests, taking into account an ever-changing threat environment and technological landscape,” said a department spokesperson. “As part of this process, as we have done in the past, we sometimes revoke export licenses.”

A person familiar with the situation said the Commerce Department notified businesses that would be affected but did not provide details.

Washington already has tough restrictions on the sale of U.S. technology to Huawei, but Republican lawmakers have urged President Joe Biden to take even tougher action against the Chinese group, which national security officials say helps Beijing participate. Cyber ​​espionage around the world. Huawei denied the allegations.

“This is a significant action that indicates how seriously the U.S. government is addressing – not backing down from – what it considers national security threats from Chinese technology,” said Meghan Harris, export control expert at Beacon Global Strategies , a consultant.

“To the extent that the industry and foreign partners were watching to see if the administration would soften its stance, this is a clear indicator that that will not happen – and we should anticipate that any subsequent administration will continue on the right path,” she said .

The measure comes amid US alarm over Huawei’s ability to develop advanced chips despite broad export controls introduced in 2022. When US Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo visited China last year, Huawei launched the Mate 60 Pro smartphone, which had an advanced chip that surprised experts.

Marco Rubio, the Republican vice chairman of the Senate intelligence committee, and Elise Stefanik, the fourth-ranking Republican in the House of Representatives, last month urged Raimondo to revoke Huawei’s licenses after reports emerged that the Shenzhen-based group had built laptops using Intel chips.

“It is clear from these trends that Huawei, a blacklisted company that was on the ropes just a few years ago, is making a comeback,” the lawmakers wrote in their letter.

After the letter was released, Intel stated that it “strictly complies with all laws and regulations in the countries where we do business”. Huawei’s MateBook X Pro laptop, launched last month, uses Intel’s Core Ultra 9 chip. Intel declined to comment on the Commerce Department’s pending action.

Michael McCaul, the Republican chairman of the House foreign affairs committee, has repeatedly urged the Commerce Department’s Bureau of Industry and Security to take a tougher stance on Huawei. In a letter last year, he expressed concern that the Chinese group “may still purchase significant amounts of US technology.”

“This was the right decision, but the license should never have been granted,” Rubio told the FT. “The Biden administration needs to be proactive in denying critical technologies to Chinese companies, not just reactive when they are reported by lawmakers who actually take the threat seriously.”

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O FT reported last month that the US was pressuring allies in Europe and Asia to tighten restrictions on exports of chip-related technology to China due to growing concerns about Huawei.

The Chinese embassy in Washington classified the measure as “total economic bullying”.

“Arbitrarily placing restrictions or forcibly seeking dissociation to serve [a] The political agenda violates the principles of market economy and fair competition, undermines the international economic and commercial order, disrupts and destabilizes global industrial and supply chains and will ultimately harm the interests of the entire world,” the spokesperson said. of the embassy, ​​Liu Pengyu.

Qualcomm did not respond to a request for comment. Intel declined to comment. Huawei did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

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