Huawei seems to be getting in even more trouble with the United States government. According to a report by Reuters, citing sources familiar with the matter, the Department of Commerce has issued notices indicating that the administration intends to reject a number of applications for American companies to be allowed to deal with Huawei. On top of that, some existing licenses have been revoked, including Intel's.
The United States government, particularly under the Trump administration, has been harsh on Chinese companies, and Huawei has been the most notable target of its restrictions. The smartphone manufacturer was added to the country's entity list back in 2019, restricting its ability to conduct business with American companies. That's why, since then, we've seen Huawei phones ship without Google services, while the company tries to push its own ecosystem of apps.
American companies can still apply to obtain licenses to work with Huawei, which allowed some laptops to still run Windows or have Intel processors, for example. However, the latest restriction would put even more of a hamper on Huawei's business. Aside from Intel, memory chip manufacturer Kioxia (formerly Toshiba Memory Solutions) is also said to have had its license revoked. Some sources claim that up to eight licenses for four companies have been terminated.
In a last-ditch effort to save at least part of its business, Huawei recently sold off its Honor sub-division to a Chinese consortium, which should save it from all the restrictions imposed by the government. Honor recently announced an Intel-based variant of its MagicBook Pro laptop at CES, which should still be happening since the company has been separated from Huawei.
Around the world, some countries have followed the U.S. in their efforts to curb Huawei technology, removing its products from 5G networks. However, others, such as Brazil, are still welcoming the company to build out their infrastructure.
More recently, the Trump administration appears to be doubling down on its efforts to restrict Chinese companies since the November 3 election. In December, a number of companies were added to its entity list, including SMIC and DJI, and more recently, transactions with eight Chinese apps were banned in the U.S. President-elect Joe Biden is expected to take office this week, and it remains to be seen whether the new administration will signal a new stance from the U.S. towards China.
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