Pentagon blocks Commerce Dept-imposed ban on Huawei sales: Report
San Francisco, Jan 25 (IANS) In a breather to the Chinese telecom equipment and smartphone giant Huawei, the Pentagon has blocked the Commerce Department-backed ban on sales that make it harder for US-based companies to sell equipment to the handset maker, the media has reported.
The US Department of Commerce had put Huawei on the “entity list” in May 2019, thus, preventing US firms from conducting business with the company unless they obtain a specific license, citing national security concerns with the Chinese telecommunications giant.
The Commerce Department’s efforts to tighten the noose on Huawei Technologies Co. is facing a formidable obstacle: the Pentagon.
Commerce officials have withdrawn proposed regulations that would make it harder for US companies to sell to Huawei from their overseas facilities following objections from the Defense Department as well as the Treasury Department, people familiar with the matter said, The Wall Street Journal reported on Friday.
The Commerce Department has subsequently issued temporary licenses to delay that designation, but companies have already begun finding ways to continue selling equipment to Huawei without falling afoul of Commerce penalties.
Meanwhile, Huawei’s latest smartphone Mate 30 Pro, unveiled in September, doesn’t contain American components. The flagship smartphone competes with the likes of Apple’s iPhone 11, which was also unveiled in September.
In the wake of the US ban, Huawei is sourcing audio amplifiers from the Netherlands’ NXP rather than Texas-based Cirrus Logic, and relying entirely on its own HiSilicon semiconductor division for Wi-Fi and Bluetooth chips rather than Broadcom.
It’s using other firms, like Japan’s Murata and Taiwan’s MediaTek, for other parts previously supplied by US manufacturers, The Verge had reported in December.
However, Huawei has not been able to divest itself of American suppliers entirely.
The company said it had been stockpiling components in anticipation of sanctions and separate teardowns revealed that some new devices were still reliant on American parts, the report added.
