License of Huawei’s U.S. Suppliers Revoked During Trump’s Final Week in Office

In his final week in office as U.S. president, Trump took a last action to further weaken Huawei by revoking the Chinese company’s U.S. based suppliers. A number of Huawei suppliers received notification from the Trump administration that the US Department of Commerce is revoking their license for continuing to do business with the Chinese communications company. Huawei has been banned in the U.S. for being a national security threat since May 2020.

Moreover, Trump’s executive order includes denying all pending applications submitted by other suppliers signifying intent to do business with Huawei. Their notices include having 20 days to respond to the matter, while the Department of Commerce will have 45 days to give further advice about any changes or give final notice about the rejection of their application. Upon receipt of the final notice, the rejected companies will have 45 days to submit an appeal.

The Semiconductor Industry Association told Reuters by way of an email that for many months, companies had been waiting for the Commerce Department’s decision on their applications. Now with less than a week remaining in Trump’s administration, the affected companies have to deal with the denials. They are yet facing another lengthy period before the department issues a final decision about the rejection of their application covering the shipment of their Huawei orders.

Trump Administration’s Latest Revocation Action Affected at Least Four Companies

A Reuters source who spoke on conditions of anonymity said that at least four companies, including microchips manufacturer Intel received notification that their licenses have been revoked. The license revocation actually covered a broad range of semiconductor products, which denotes that some of the companies had more than one license canceled in relation to their Huawei deals.

However, the official spokesperson of the Semiconductor Industry Association refused to give further details on the matter. So does the White House, the Department of Commerce , Huawei or Intel.