US seeks to deny chips to Huawei
May 15, 2020
The US Commerce Department has amended of an export rule in order to curtail Huawei’s ability to use US technology and software to design and manufacture its semiconductors abroad.
The department said the amendment to the longstanding foreign-produced direct product rule is designed to “cut off Huawei’s efforts to undermine US export controls” and to “narrowly and strategically target Huawei’s acquisition of semiconductors that are the direct product of certain US software and technology.”
The Commerce Department added that the rule will allow semiconductors already in production to be shipped to Huawei as long as they are “re-exported, exported from abroad, or transferred in-country by 120 days from the effective date [May 15th]”.
In a separate statement, the Commerce Department said it was extending a temporary general license (TGL) that was set to expire on May 15th to allow US companies to continue doing business with Huawei. The 90-day extension lasts until August 13th but the department warned that this may well be the final of several reprieves it grants.