7th September, 2023
Chinese electronics giant Huawei has triggered fresh concerns in the United States after launching its new phone called the Mate 60 Pro.
United States officials are concerned about where the company got the chip to power the phone.
Analysts believe the chip was made with a technology breakthrough by China’s Semiconductor International Manufacturing Corp (SMIC).
The chair of the House of Representatives’ committee on China, Mike Gallagher said on Wednesday that The U.S. Commerce Department should end all technology exports to Huawei and SMIC.
He said the chips may have violated trade restrictions,.
“This chip likely could not be produced without US technology and thus SMIC may have violated the Department of Commerce’s Foreign Direct Product Rule,” Rep. Gallagher said in a statement.
“The time has come to end all U.S. technology exports to both Huawei and SMIC to make clear any firm that flouts U.S. law and undermines our national security will be cut off from our technology.”
Huawei was placed on a trade blacklist in May 2019 over national security concerns, forcing its U.S. suppliers and others to obtain a special license to ship goods to it.
SMIC was added to the so-called entity list in December 2020, over fears it could divert advanced technology to military users.
The trade restrictions imposed on Huawei and SMIC include the Foreign Direct Product Rule meant to bar any company anywhere in the world from using tools from the United States to manufacture a chip for Huawei.
But suppliers to Huawei and SMIC have received billions of dollars’ worth of licenses to sell U.S. technology to the companies despite their being on the trade lists, Reuters has previously reported.
About 90% of the licenses were for sales to SMIC.