Intel has begun selling to Huawei as US loosens restrictions.

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Photo by Jordan Harrison on Pexels.com

Since the US eased restrictions on supplying components to Huawei, the largest US chimpaker, Intel, said they have begun selling products to Huawei “within the rules of the law”. Additionally, Intel says they are also requesting an export license to sell “general purpose computing” chips to Huawei that do not pose a national security risk.

As you are aware, the Trump administration raised concerns regarding the use of Huawei technology may contain backdoors that would allow the Chinese government to spy on users, posing a national security risk. As a result, the US Department of Commerce added Huawei to their entity list this past May. Inclusion on the entity list precluded Huawei from buying parts and components from American companies without US government approval (an export license).

However, after the Trump met with Chinese President Xi Jinping at the G20 summit last month, President Trump said that US firms can resume selling equipment to Huawei.

Additionally, earlier in July, Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross announced an easing of restrictions against the Chinese company in line with Trump’s statements after the G20 summit, stating that the US would issue licenses to US companies looking to sell to Huawei as long as the sales do not pose a threat to national security. An export license would still be required as Huawei has not been removed from the entity list.

If you have any questions whether your company can continue to do business with Huawei, contact experienced export compliance attorney David Hsu at 832-896-6288 or by email at attorney.dave@yahoo.com, dh@gjatradelaw.com.

Intel CEO talks about Huawei ban.

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In an interview with Yahoo Finance, Intel CEO Bob Swan said Huawei was an “important customer” while stressing Intel must abide by the “rules of the road” – the export restrictions in place after Huawei’s inclusion on the BIS entity list.

Intel’s CEO was one of six other tech CEO’s who met with President Trump this past Monday to discuss security issues around the use of Huawei equipment. While most people relate Huawei to their smartphones, Huawei also makes the infrastructure for the internet. Huawei is currently working on 5G equipment which US officials suspect will contain back doors or other  means for Chinese espionage.

In related news – Intel reported second-quarter earnings and beating expectations and Intel will sell most of its smartphone modem business to Apple for $1 billion.

ZTE banned from purchasing US technology for 7 years.

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ZTE Corporate Campus in Shenzhen, China; Photo Credit: Brücke-Osteuropa from Wikipedia

On Monday, the U.S. Department of Commerce’s Bureau of Industry and Security (BIS) imposed a denial of export privileges against ZTE, composed of Zhongxing Telecommunications Equipment Corporation, of Shenzhen, China (“ZTE Corporation”) and ZTE Kangxun Telecommunications Ltd. of Hi-New Shenzhen, China (“ZTE Kangxun”).

Background

In March of 2017, ZTE agreed to pay civil and criminal penalty and forfeitures totaling $1.19 billion for shipping telecommunications equipment to Iran and North Korea, making false statements, and obstructing justice by preventing disclosure to and misleading the U.S. Government. In 2017, ZTE also agreed to a seven-year denial of export privileges if ZTE committed additional violations.

Commerce found ZTE made several violations such as making false statements to BIS in 2016 and making false statements about disciplinary actions against employees involved in the shipment of equipment to Iran and North Korea.

Result

By activating the seven-year denial of export privileges, ZTE is prohibited from participating in any way in any transaction subject to the EAR. The prohibition also makes it unlawful for businesses and individuals to participate in an export transaction subject to the EAR with a denied person (ZTE).

If you have any questions about how the recent ZTE order may effect your business, or have any other BIS, EAR or export compliance issues – contact experienced trade attorney David Hsu at 832.896.6288 or by email at attorney.dave@yahoo.com.