The United States cancels licenses to sell some chips to the Chinese company Huawei

The US government said it has revoked some licenses that allowed US chip manufacturers to export certain goods to Chinese technology giant Huawei.

The Commerce Department did not specify which licenses were revoked, but San Diego-based chip giant Qualcomm told BBC News that the move affects one of its licenses.

Intel, another US chipmaker, declined to comment, while Huawei did not immediately respond to a BBC request for comment.

Since 2019, the United States has restricted technology exports to Huawei, citing alleged ties to the Chinese military, but companies such as Intel and Qualcomm have been granted some exemptions.

“The Department of Commerce has revoked some of Huawei’s export licenses in our industry, including one of our own. We will continue to comply with all applicable export control regulations,” Qualcomm said.

Beijing condemned Washington’s moves against its companies.

China’s Foreign Ministry said in a statement that the United States “exaggerates the concept of national security and misuses export controls to unjustifiably suppress Chinese companies.”

Some US lawmakers had criticized President Joe Biden’s administration after the launch of the Huawei MateBook

“Make no mistake, the Biden administration would not have taken this action if Republicans in Congress had not held them accountable,” Republican Congresswoman Elise Stefanik said in a social media post.

Huawei has been hit hard by US trade restrictions, but it appears to be making a comeback recently.

The Chinese company has enjoyed a revival, especially after the launch of the Mate 60 Pro smartphone in August.

In 2019, during Donald Trump’s presidency, US officials added Huawei to the so-called Entity List.

This means that US companies need to obtain a license from the government to export or transfer some technologies, especially due to concerns about their use by the Chinese military.

However, at that time some US companies, including Intel and Qualcomm, were licensed to supply non-5G technology to Huawei.

The United States has imposed restrictions on many Chinese technology companies in recent years, as tensions escalate between the world’s two largest economies.

Earlier this month, President Biden signed a law that could ban the video app TikTok in the country unless it is sold by its Chinese parent company. TikTok filed a lawsuit on Tuesday to block the legislation.