US revokes Intel, Qualcomm's export licenses to sell to China's Huawei,
sources say
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[May 08, 2024] By
Alexandra Alper, Fanny Potkin and David Shepardson
WASHINGTON/SINGAPORE (Reuters) -The U.S. has revoked licenses that
allowed companies including Intel and Qualcomm to ship chips used for
laptops and handsets to sanctioned Chinese telecoms equipment maker
Huawei Technologies, three people familiar with the matter said.
A fourth person said some of the companies were notified on Tuesday that
their licenses were revoked effective immediately. The U.S. Commerce
Department earlier in the day confirmed it had revoked some licenses but
stopped short of naming the companies.
A spokesperson for Intel declined to comment. Qualcomm did not respond
to a request for comment and Huawei did not immediately respond.
The move comes after the release last month of Huawei's first AI-enabled
laptop, the MateBook X Pro powered by Intel's new Core Ultra 9
processor.
The laptop launch drew fire from Republican lawmakers, who said it
suggested to them that the Commerce Department had given the green light
to Intel to sell the chip to Huawei.
"We have revoked certain licenses for exports to Huawei," the Commerce
Department said in a statement, declining to specify which ones it had
withdrawn.
The Commerce Department's move, first reported by Reuters, comes after
concerted pressure by Republican China hawks in Congress who have been
urging the Biden administration to take tougher action to thwart Huawei.
"This action will bolster U.S. national security, protect American
ingenuity, and diminish Communist China’s ability to advance its
technology," Republican Congresswoman Elise Stefanik said in a
statement.
The move could hurt Huawei which still relies on Intel chips to power
its laptops, and could hurt U.S. suppliers that do business with the
company.
"China resolutely opposes the United States overstretching the concept
of national security and abusing export controls to suppress Chinese
companies without justification," the Chinese foreign ministry said in a
statement.
Intel has also been facing weak demand for its traditional data center
and PC chips. Last month, it lost $11 billion in stock market value
after forecasting second-quarter revenue and profit below market
estimates.
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A Chinese flag flutters near a Huawei store in Shanghai, China
September 8, 2023. REUTERS/Aly Song/File Photo
Huawei was placed on a U.S. trade restriction list in 2019 amid
fears it could spy on Americans, part of a broader effort to
handicap China's ability to bolster its military. Being added to the
list means the company's suppliers have to seek a special,
difficult-to-obtain license before shipping.
Even so, suppliers to Huawei have received licenses worth billions
of dollars to sell Huawei goods and technology, including one
particularly controversial authorization, issued by the Trump
administration, which has allowed Intel to ship central processors
to Huawei for use in its laptops since 2020.
Qualcomm has sold older 4G chips to handsets since receiving a
license from U.S. officials in 2020. In regulatory filing earlier
this month, Qualcomm had said it did not expect to receive more chip
revenue from Huawei beyond this year.
However, Qualcomm still licenses its portfolio of 5G technologies to
Huawei, which last year began using a 5G chip designed by its
HiSilicon unit that most analysts believe is manufactured in
violation of U.S. sanctions. Qualcomm said in the filing this month
that its patent deal with Huawei expires early in Qualcomm's fiscal
2025 and that it has started negotiations to renew the deal.
Critics argue such licenses have contributed to the company's
resurgence. Huawei shocked industry last August with a new phone
powered by a sophisticated chip manufactured by Chinese chipmaker
SMIC, despite U.S. export restrictions on both companies.
The phone helped Huawei smartphone sales spike 64% year on year in
the first six weeks of 2024, according to research firm
Counterpoint. Its smart car component business has also contributed
to Huawei's resurgence, with the company notching its fastest
revenue growth in four years in 2023.
(Reporting by Alexandra Alper, David Shepardson, Karen Freifeld,
Stephen Nellis, Chris Sanders and Fanny Potkin; Additional reporting
by David Kirton and Eduardo Baptista; Editing by Daniel Wallis,
Lincoln Feast and Louise Heavens)
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