Huawei files lawsuit against US Commerce Department over seized equipment, insists no licence needed
- Court action over export regulations is latest controversy in long-running battle between US government and the Chinese tech giant
Huawei Technologies filed a lawsuit against the US Commerce Department on Friday challenging whether telecommunications equipment it sent from China to the United States, and then back to China, is covered by Export Administration Regulations, according to a court filing.
The lawsuit is the latest salvo in a battle between the US government and Huawei. Washington says the Chinese company’s telecommunications gear could be used by Beijing to spy. Huawei denies that is the case.
In the lawsuit, Huawei said that it shipped telecommunications equipment from China, including a computer server and ethernet switch, to a testing laboratory in California. After the testing was done, the equipment was shipped back to China. No application for a license was made because none was needed, the lawsuit claims.
But the equipment was seized in Alaska by the US government, and no decision has been made about whether a license is required to ship it, the filing said.
“The equipment, to the best of HT USA’s knowledge, remains in a bureaucratic limbo in an Alaskan warehouse,” Huawei said in its lawsuit.