US regulators open door to possible tightening of Huawei chip curb
- Officials may move to close potential loophole in new rule targeting exports to Chinese tech giant
- Current restrictions apply only to chips designed by Huawei, but do not cover shipments sent directly to its customers
US regulators are open to making changes to close what some see as a loophole in a new rule aimed at curbing global chip sales to blacklisted Chinese telecoms equipment maker Huawei Technologies, two US officials said on Wednesday.
The new rule, unveiled by the Commerce Department on Friday, expands US authority to require licences for sales to Huawei of semiconductors made abroad with US technology, amplifying the department’s reach to halt exports to the world’s No 2 smartphone maker.
But the rule includes only chips designed by Huawei and does not cover shipments if they are sent directly to Huawei’s customers. Some industry lawyers see this as a significant loophole.
Asked on Wednesday about the potential for adjusting the rule to close that gap, State Department official Christopher Ashley Ford said the rule itself would provide regulators with the insight to determine if it should be altered.
03:19
Huawei’s Ren Zhengfei says he drew on the best of US politics and business to found telecoms giant
The rule will “give us a great deal more information upon which to base export control decisions as we move forward and try to find the right answer to these challenges including by adapting, if we need to, if Huawei tries to work around our rules in some way”, Ford said.