Jakarta, CNN Indonesia —
United States officials reportedly gave permission to Huawei buy chip components to manufacture electric vehicle Huawei is developing. The ban on licenses to sell chips to Huawei for mobile devices is still in effect.
Huawei, the world’s largest telecommunications equipment maker, is now hobbled by trade restrictions imposed by the Donald Trump administration and into the Joe Biden era.
The ‘relaxation’ granted this time in the form of a license that authorizes suppliers to sell chips to Huawei for electric car components such as video screens and sensors.
Regarding the auto license, a spokesman for the US Department of Commerce said the government continues to consistently implement policies to restrict Huawei’s access to commodities, software, or technology for activities that could jeopardize US national security and foreign policy interests.
Meanwhile, a Huawei spokesperson declined to comment on the license. Huawei only said that the company had only good intentions to ensure automakers continued to thrive in the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic.
“We are positioning ourselves as a new component provider for intelligent connected vehicles, and our goal is to help car OEMs (manufacturers) build better vehicles,” Huawei said.
Senator Tom Cotton, who is highly critical of Huawei, said it was “unacceptable for the Biden administration to defuse its pressure campaign against a Chinese spy company like Huawei,” he said.
Meanwhile, Senator Marco Rubio cited the permission granted as another example of Biden’s failure to protect America’s economic and national security.
Huawei has invested around IDR 14.5 trillion to develop electric cars and cars with self-driving or autonomous technology.
Before announcing the commitment, Huawei was known to be on the US Commerce Department’s trade blacklist in 2019. This policy prohibits the sale of US goods and technology to companies without a special license.
The US has since last year stepped up restrictions to limit the sale of chips made overseas with US equipment. It was also a campaign to gain allies and exclude Huawei from 5G networks because of spying problems. However, Huawei has denied the allegations of spying.
Huawei has now started to expand into the auto industry after the announcement of agreements with three Chinese-owned automakers, including the BAIC Group.
Richard Barnett, chief marketing officer at global electronics consultancy Supply Frame, said Huawei is in the early stages of trying to invest in the $5 trillion auto market that has huge growth potential both inside and outside China.
(ryh / mik)
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