Huawei slams ‘arbitrary and pernicious’ US move to restrict supply chain

Huawei has slammed the Trump administration’s move to restrict its access to global semiconductor supplies that use US equipment, IP or software. In a strongly-worded statement, the Chinese telecommunications giant described the US commerce department’s decision to amend the longstanding foreign-produced direct product rule as “arbitrary and pernicious”, adding that the US government’s “discriminatory” actions could undermine a number of global industries as well as the trust international companies place in US technology and supply chains. “Ultimately, this will harm US interests,” claimed Huawei.

However, the company admitted that its business would be impacted by the move to curb its access to global chip supplies. “Huawei is undertaking a comprehensive examination of this new rule. We expect that our business will inevitably be affected,” it said without providing further details.

Rotating chairman Guo Ping confirmed at Huawei’s annual analyst summit in Shenzhen that the company spent USD 18.7 billion buying from US suppliers last year and would continue to buy from them if the US government would allow it. “We will try all we can to seek a solution,” said Guo Ping, according to Reuters, adding that “survival is the key word for us at present.”

The Chinese company declined to comment on reports that Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing (TSMC) has stopped taking new orders from Huawei. The US rule change came on the same day TSMC said it would invest USD 12 billion to build a 5 nanometer chip factory in Arizona.