Maybe ZTE wasn’t alone.
The United States Department of Commerce is reportedly investigating Huawei’s business practices in a number of countries to determine whether the Chinese company violated trade restrictions.
According to the New York Times, the Commerce Department has subpoenaed Huawei, asking it to provide information related to the export or re-export of U.S. technology to Cuba, Iran, North Korea, Sudan and Syria. The United States has placed controls on the sale of American technology in those countries.
The government is hunting for records of direct sales from Huawei to any of those countries, but also evidence of transactions conducted indirectly through shell or front companies, the New York Times said. The investigation spans the past five years, the report said.
The Commerce Department said the subpoena issued to Huawei is an administrative rather than criminal in nature and the company has not been accused of wrongdoing.
The query follows an investigation earlier this year into fellow Chinese smartphone maker ZTE. In March, the U.S. government slapped the company with export restrictions in the wake of allegations ZTE violated U.S. export controls on Iran. Those limitations were later lifted on ZTE’s promises to work with the government to remedy the violations.
During its investigation into ZTE’s business practices in Iran, the U.S. government released documents showing ZTE based its efforts on methods used by a rival. Though the documents only named the rival “F7,” the New York Times found other descriptors in the text strongly hinted it was Huawei.
If found guilty of violating U.S. trade restrictions, Huawei faces punishment that could limit its access to components and technology made or developed in the United States.
Filed Under: Industry regulations