Exactly five years after the announcement that it put Huawei out of the Western market of smartphones, the United States has dealt another huge blow to the Chinese telecommunications giant. The rumors anticipated by the international press have found official confirmation: the US Department of Commerce has revoked some export licenses that allowed companies such as Qualcomm e Intel to supply Huawei. The move adds pressure on Huawei, which has long been embroiled in an intense technological rivalry between Beijing and Washington over US fears it could be used for Chinese espionage operations. Republican lawmakers had urged the Biden administration to block all export licenses after Huawei released a new computer powered by an Intel chipset.
“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 technology landscape,” a Commerce Department spokesperson said. Sanctions that have limited Huawei’s access to U.S.-made software and components since 2019 have required suppliers to have a license before shipping them to the company. A spokesperson for Chinese Ministry of Commerce he said Beijing “strongly opposes” the move. “China will take all necessary measures to firmly safeguard the legitimate rights and interests of Chinese companies,” the spokesperson added, calling the US export restrictions “economic coercion.”
A complaint from Marco Rubio and Elise Stefanik claims that “the licenses issued in 2020, at least some of which are still active, have allowed Huawei to collaborate with Intel and Qualcomm to keep its PC and smartphone segments alive”, criticizes Huawei’s access to US technology for develop new products and underlines how “a company that was on the ropes just a few years ago is making a comeback”. In financial results released this month, Qualcomm said it has U.S. export licenses that allow it to sell 4G and other integrated circuit products to Huawei. But it added that it does not “expect to receive revenue from Huawei products beyond the current calendar year.”