The US has reportedly tightened sanctions against Huawei again. The aim is and was to cut off the Chinese company from US technology, but so far the sanctions have allowed exceptions for the export of products by US companies to Huawei. These exceptions are now to be abolished.
No more exceptions from the export ban
According to reports from Bloomberg, Reuters and the Financial Times, the US government has temporarily completely suspended the approval of licenses for US companies to export technology to Huawei. The reports are based on notifications by the US Department of Commerce to companies that have previously exported technology in the form of hardware or software to Huawei with an exemption, for example in the 4G and WLAN areas. 5G technology was already excluded from the exceptions.
No comment from USA, China concerned
A spokesman for the US Department of Commerce would not confirm the reports, saying only that it was “working closely with export control partners in the Departments of Energy, Defense and State and is continually reviewing policies and regulations […].” However, one does not comment on discussions or considerations about individual companies. Huawei has not yet commented on this new development. The Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs, on the other hand, was concerned about the reports of the extended export ban and wanted to monitor these developments closely.
Huawei technology in 5G networks
The USA is particularly critical of Huawei's position as a network supplier, because they are used directly in areas of the infrastructure through the use of their technology, for example in 5G radio masts, and espionage and sabotage are feared. Other countries have also joined the critical attitude towards Huawei, for example Great Britain. Some countries no longer use 5G technology from Huawei, but in Germany the proportion of Huawei technology is even increasing due to the expansion of 5G mobile networks. The US sanctions had caused a massive drop in sales at Huawei. After sales increased by around 19 percent in 2019 despite the first sanctions, they collapsed by a third in 2020 and did not recover in 2021 either. Huawei sold the smartphone subsidiary Honor after the sanctions came into force so that it would not also be affected.