US Commerce Department denies easing trade restrictions on Huawei Technologies
- ‘The policy has not been eased or amended,’ a department spokesman says
- An outcry followed reports that Huawei has won approval to purchase American-made automotive chips
The US Commerce Department has denied any loosening of its trade restrictions on Huawei Technologies – but did not refute reports that the Chinese tech giant has won approval to procure American semiconductors for its automotive parts business.
“The policy has not been eased or amended,” a department spokesperson said on Friday.
The department was responding to the outcry that followed the recent news that it had approved an exemption to Huawei, which has been on the department’s “entity list” and prohibited from doing business with American suppliers, to buy auto chips.
The department said that Huawei remained on the entity list and continued to be subject to Commerce’s licensing policy.
Shortly after the news broke on Wednesday about the approval, Mike Pompeo, the former secretary of state during the Trump administration, tweeted that “I worked to secure America from the Chinese Communist Party threat, esp. Huawei’s predatory espionage.
“This admin has given in to them. The Russians get a pipeline. Iran gets billions. The CCP gets semiconductors.”
On Thursday, Senator Marco Rubio, Republican of Florida, sought answers from the Biden administration about its action.
