The United States has revoked licenses that allowed companies including Intel and Qualcomm to ship chips used in computers and cellphones to Chinese manufacturer Huawei Technologies, three people familiar with the matter said.
A fourth person said some companies were notified Tuesday that their licenses had been revoked effective immediately. The US Department of Commerce confirmed it had revoked some licenses, but did not name the companies affected.
An Intel spokesperson declined to comment. Qualcomm did not respond to a request for comment and Huawei did not immediately respond.
The move follows last month’s launch of Huawei’s first AI-enabled laptop, the MateBook X Pro, powered by Intel’s new Core Ultra 9 processor.
The launch was criticized by Republican lawmakers. According to them, this suggests that the Commerce Department authorized Intel to sell the chip to Huawei.
“We have revoked some export licenses for Huawei,” the Commerce Department said in a statement, declining to specify which ones had been withdrawn.
The move, first reported by Reuters, came after a concerted push by anti-China Republicans in Congress, who called on President Joe Biden’s administration to take tougher actions to counter Huawei.
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 firmly opposes the United States going beyond the concept of national security and abusing export controls to crack down on Chinese companies without justification,” China’s Foreign Ministry said in a statement.
Intel also faced weak demand for its traditional data centers and computer chips. Last month, it lost $11 billion in stock market value after forecasting second-quarter revenue and profit below market estimates.
Huawei was placed on a US trade restriction list in 2019 over fears it could spy on Americans, as part of a broader effort to undermine China’s ability to strengthen its military. Being included on the list means that the company’s suppliers must apply for a special license before shipping their products.
Source: Terra
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