U.S. revokes some export licenses to sell chips to Huawei in a bid to curb China’s tech power

The
U.S.
has
revoked
certain
licenses
for
chip
exports
to
Chinese
tech
giant
Huawei,
the
Commerce
Department
told
CNBC
on
Tuesday,
in
its
latest
efforts
to
curb
China’s
tech
power.

“We
continuously
assess
how
our
controls
can
best
protect
our
national
security
and
foreign
policy
interests,
taking
into
consideration
a
constantly
changing
threat
environment
and
technological
landscape,”
a
Commerce
spokesperson
said
in
a
statement.

“As
part
of
this
process,
as
we
have
done
in
the
past,
we
sometimes
revoke
export
licenses,”
 the
spokesperson
said,
declining
to
comment
on
specific
licenses.
“But
we
can
confirm
that
we
have
revoked
certain
licenses
for
exports
to
Huawei.”

Huawei
was

placed
on
a
U.S.
trade
blacklist
in
2019,
which
banned
U.S.
firms
from
selling
technology
–
including
5G
chips
–
to
the
Chinese
tech
giant
over
national
security
concerns.
In
2020,
the
U.S.
tightened
chip
restrictions
on
Huawei,
requiring
foreign
manufacturers
using
American
chipmaking
equipment

to
obtain
a
license
before
they
can
sell
semiconductors
to
Huawei.

Huawei’s
consumer
business,
which
includes
smartphones
and
laptops,
is
seeing
a
resurgence
after
launching
the

Mate
60
Pro
smartphone
in
August.

A

TechInsights
analysis
of
Huawei’s
Mate
60
Pro
smartphone
revealed
an
advanced
chip
made
by
China’s
top
chip
maker,
SMIC.
The
smartphone
is also
said
to
be
equipped
with
5G
connectivity –
a
feature
which
U.S.
sanctions
had
sought
to
block.

U.S.
chip
firms


Qualcomm
and


Intel
are
two
of
the
companies
that
supply
chips
to
Huawei.
Qualcomm
in
an

SEC
filing
earlier
this
month
said
it
expects
operations
to
be
“further
impacted”
from
its
customers,
such
as
Huawei,
developing
their
own
chips.

“While
we
have
continued
to
sell
integrated
circuit
products
to
Huawei
under
our
licenses,
we
do
not
expect
to
receive
product
revenues
from
Huawei
beyond
the
current
calendar
year,”
Qualcomm
said.

“Additionally,
to
the
extent
that
Huawei’s
5G
devices
take
share
from
Chinese
original
equipment
manufacturers
that
utilize
our
5G
products
or
from
non-Chinese
OEMs
that
utilize
our
5G
products
in
devices
they
sell
into
China,
our
revenues,
results
of
operations
and
cash
flows
could
be
further
impacted,”
Qualcomm
said.

Last
month,
Huawei
launched
a

fresh
lineup
of
phones
–
the
Pura
70
series
–
in
a
bid
to
challenge


Apple
in
China.

Apple
is
facing
pressure
from
Huawei
in
China
as
iPhone
sales
plunged
19.1%
in
the
first
quarter
while
Huawei’s
smartphone
sales
soared
69.7%,
according
to

Counterpoint
Research.

Huawei’s
net
profit
in
2023
grew
by
144.5%
from
a
year
ago
to
87
billion
yuan
(about
$12
billion)
partially
helped
by
the
sales
of
Mate
60
Pro
in
China,
the
firm
revealed
in
March.