Chinese vendor Huawei has dropped a lawsuit against the U.S. Commerce Department and other agencies after the government released telecommunications equipment seized in September 2017.
The suit was filed by the Chinese company’s U.S. subsidiary, Huawei Technologies USA, in June 2019.
“After a prolonged and unexplained seizure, Huawei has decided to drop the case after the U.S. government returned the equipment, which Huawei views as a tacit admission that the seizure itself was unlawful and arbitrary. This case was cited among a series of concerns the company recently enumerated with regard to inappropriate and unjustified actions against Huawei by the U.S. government,” the vendor said in a statement.
“The equipment, which includes computer servers, Ethernet switches, and other telecommunications gear made by Huawei in China, should have been shipped back to China after commercial testing and certification at a laboratory in California in September 2017. The U.S. Commerce Department, citing unidentified export violation concerns, seized the equipment while it was in transit,” Huawei added.
In March this year, Huawei had filed a separate lawsuit claiming that a ban on the use of its products by U.S. federal agencies and contractors violated due process and is unconstitutional.
In May, the U.S. Department of Commerce added Huawei to its Entity List, a decision that effectively banned the company from buying parts and components from U.S. companies without U.S. government approval. Under the order, Huawei will need a U.S. government license to buy components from U.S. suppliers.
At that time, firms including Google, Intel, Qualcomm and Microm halted shipments due to the restrictions. Huawei relies heavily on computer chips imported from U.S. companies.
In July, President Donald Trump had agreed to grant “timely” licensing decisions to U.S. technology firms that want to sell components and services to Huawei, following a meeting between the U.S President and the CEOs of Google, Cisco, Intel, Western Digital Corporation, Micron, Qualcomm and Broadcom.
Following a previous bilateral meeting with Chinese President Xi Jinping in Osaka, Japan, Trump said that U.S. companies can sell their equipment to Huawei as long as the transactions won’t present a “great, national emergency problem.”
Last month, the U.S. Commerce Department confirmed it had received over 130 applications from U.S. firms for licenses to sell goods to Huawei. However, government officials recently confirmed that all the export licenses requested by U.S companies are still pending of approval.
Earlier this month, Huawei said that the U.S. government has been using a number of tools – including both judicial and administrative powers – to disrupt the normal business operations of the company. This includes obstructing normal business activities and technical communications through intimidation, denying visas, and detaining shipments, Huawei said.
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