American chip manufacturers were able to sell certain equipment to Huawei, a Chinese technological giant, until the US government revoked their permits. While the Department of Commerce did not reveal which permits were revoked, the move came after Huawei unveiled an AI-enabled device that included an Intel CPU.
The American chipmaker Intel did not want to comment on the license revocation when asked by BBC News. For their reactions to the news, BBC News has contacted Qualcomm, a technology firm based in San Diego, and Huawei, a Chinese IT company.
U.S. sanctions on Huawei technology exports, including computer chips, have been in place since 2019 due to allegations of links to China’s military. The specific permits impacted were not specified in the statement made Tuesday by the Commerce Department, which noted that “certain licenses for exports to Huawei” had been withdrawn.
Last month, Huawei introduced the MateBook X Pro laptop, which prompted several US politicians to attack President Joe Biden’s administration. The Biden administration would not have acted if Republicans in Congress weren’t holding them responsible, according to Republican Congresswoman Elise Stefanik’s social media comment.
After suffering greatly as a result of US trade restrictions, Huawei has begun to show indications of recovery, most notably with the August introduction of the Mate 60 Pro smartphone. The US government included Huawei to the “entity list” in 2019 while Donald Trump was president, which means US firms must get licenses to export or transfer specific technologies. This move stems from concerns that the Chinese military could utilize these technologies.
Intel and Qualcomm, two US corporations, were authorized to provide Huawei with non-5G related technologies despite these prohibitions. Chinese tech companies have been subject to a number of restrictions in recent years as a result of US-China tensions.
The video app TikTok may be banned in the US unless its Chinese parent company sells it, according to a bill that President Biden approved earlier this month. As a result, TikTok took legal action by suing to stop the statute. The Chinese capital has called out the US government’s policies on Chinese businesses, calling them “economic bullying.”
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