U.S. Moves to Cut Off Chip Supplies to Huawei
May 15 2020 - 8:52AM
Dow Jones News
By Katy Stech Ferek
The Trump administration announced a new export restriction on
Friday designed to cut off Chinese telecom-equipment maker Huawei
Technologies Co. from overseas manufacturers who supply
semiconductors.
The restriction stops foreign semiconductor manufacturers whose
operations use U.S. software and technology from shipping products
to Huawei without getting a license from U.S. officials first.
That new license authority could give the Commerce Department
the ability to block the sale of semiconductors manufactured by
Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co., for Huawei's HiSilicon
unit, which designs chips for the company.
Commerce officials have worked on the new restriction for
months.
The restriction further tightens the U.S. export-control
system's existing rules related to Huawei. Washington alleges that
Huawei gear could be used by Beijing to spy globally, which Huawei
has repeatedly denied.
Huawei didn't immediately respond to a request for comment on
the new restriction.
A year ago, Commerce Department officials put Huawei on an
export blacklist that they keep of companies considered to be
national-security threats. That move was designed to cut Huawei off
from some U.S. semiconductor makers, but some manufacturers later
found loopholes in the rule that enabled them to resume shipments,
frustrating some Trump administration officials.
"This is not how a responsible global corporate citizen behaves.
We must amend our rules exploited by Huawei and HiSilicon and
prevent U.S. technologies from enabling malign activities contrary
to U.S. national-security and foreign-policy interests," said
Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross in his announcement of the new
rule.
(END) Dow Jones Newswires
May 15, 2020 08:37 ET (12:37 GMT)
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