The US government has expanded restrictions to further restrict Huawei Technologies' access to key components, now blocking the Chinese tech giant from buying chips from foreign manufacturers that use US technology. It also added 38 other Huawei subsidiaries to the Restrictions List, including Huawei Cloud Singapore and Huawei Cloud France.
Effective immediately, the latest amendments were implemented to "impede" Huawei's efforts to circumvent previous export controls through third parties, the US Department of Commerce's Bureau of Industry and Security (BIS) said on Monday.
The bureau also noted that it imposed license requirements on “any transaction involving items” subject to export controls where a party on the restricted list is involved, for example, when Huawei was a buyer, intermediary or end user. In addition, it said, the Temporary General License had expired.
The 38 Huawei subsidiaries now on the restricted list include Huawei Cloud Computing Technology, Huawei Cloud Singapore, Huawei Cloud France and Huawei Cloud Russia. The BIS said they were added to the list because they “present a significant risk ” of acting on behalf of Huawei “contrary to [US] national security or foreign policy interests.”
“There is reasonable cause to believe that Huawei will seek to use them to circumvent the restrictions imposed,” the office said, adding that the new measures would prevent Huawei from acquiring electronic components developed or produced by foreign companies using US technology.
US Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross said: “Huawei and its foreign affiliates have expanded their efforts to acquire advanced semiconductors developed or produced with US software and technology in order to fulfill the Chinese Communist Party’s policy objectives… This multi-pronged action demonstrates our continued commitment to hindering Huawei’s ability to do so.”
The US government last month introduced visa restrictions on certain employees of Chinese technology, specifically Huawei, who provided “material support to regimes engaged in human rights abuses around the world.”
Huawei has called the U.S. government's export restrictions an attempt to curb foreign competition and said such moves would undermine international companies' trust in U.S. technology and supply chains. It also warned that the Chinese government would likely retaliate if the U.S. continues to impose trade sanctions on the networking equipment vendor.
The US government's trade restrictions prompted Huawei to increase its investment in research and development by 30%, as well as invest in redesigning products .
