The Trump administration is moving to revoke the licenses of companies previously cleared to sell products to Huawei.
The US has engaged in a coordinated effort to isolate Huawei, citing national security concerns. The company is widely believed to have close ties with the Chinese government and intelligence apparatus. While all Chinese firms are required to cooperate with the government, Huawei’s ties are seen as closer than most.
US officials have already banned Huawei, and pressured allies to do the same, with many following suit. The US even modified the Entity List and Foreign Direct Product Rule to cut the company off from suppliers, including those in other countries that rely on US technology. This resulted in Huawei losing access to chips from TSMC, Samsung and SK Hynix. In spite of that, some companies were granted licenses that allowed them to continue doing business with Huawei, such as Intel and Qualcomm.
It appears the administration is preparing to revoke a number of those licenses, as well as deny additional applications, according to Reuters. One of the main companies impacted is Intel, with their license being one of the ones revoked.
Reuters saw an email by the Semiconductor Industry Association, in which it said the Commerce Department intends “to deny a significant number of license requests for exports to Huawei and a revocation of at least one previously issued license.”
It remains to be seen if the incoming Biden administration will take the same hard stance against Huawei but, for the time being, this is another major blow to the Chinese firm.
