On Tuesday, May 7th, the US Department of Commerce announced the revocation of some export licenses for Huawei’s chips. On Wednesday, Intel and Qualcomm confirmed that their products are now included in the new ban.
Qualcomm confirmed on Wednesday that the Commerce Department “revoked some of the export licenses to Huawei in our industry, including one of our licenses.”
The company stated, “We will continue to comply with all applicable export control regulations.”
Intel stated that the cancellation of some export licenses to Huawei by the US will impact the company’s sales.
Intel did not disclose the names of Chinese customers in the documents submitted to the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), but Reuters reported on Tuesday that the US has revoked licenses allowing companies like Intel and Qualcomm to export chips for laptops and smartphones to sanctioned Huawei.
Bloomberg reported that Michael McCaul, chairman of the House Foreign Affairs Committee, said in an interview on Tuesday that the Commerce Department’s move is a critical step in preventing the Chinese Communist Party from developing advanced artificial intelligence.
“It stops the sale of any chips to Huawei,” McCaul said. He stated that he heard presentations on the revocation of licenses from Intel and Qualcomm. “We have been concerned about these two companies being too close to China.”
Qualcomm is known for its smartphone processors, modems, graphics processors, and other chips; earlier this year, Huawei claimed that its first artificial intelligence personal computer would use Intel products, drawing attention to Intel’s chips.
Huawei’s first artificial intelligence-supported laptop, MateBook X Pro, was released in April, equipped with Intel’s new “Core Ultra 9” high-performance processor, which shocked and angered lawmakers as it indicated that the US Commerce Department had greenlit the export of such chips to Huawei. Previously, Huawei’s MateBook X released in 2020 also used Intel processors.
According to a Reuters report in March, over 90% of Huawei’s products sold in the first half of 2023 included Intel processors.
Quoting from regulatory filings, Qualcomm stated, “While we continue to sell integrated circuit products to Huawei under license, we expect no product revenue from Huawei after this calendar year.”
The Chinese Ministry of Commerce stated that revoking export licenses is “economic coercion,” violating World Trade Organization rules.
Due to concerns that Huawei may assist the Chinese government in conducting espionage against Americans, the US listed Huawei on a trade restriction list in 2019, as part of broader efforts to weaken China’s military capabilities.
The Financial Times reported last month that due to increasing concerns about Huawei, the US is urging European and Asian allies to tighten restrictions on the export of chip-related technologies to China.
President Biden has repeatedly emphasized ensuring that the most advanced technologies and computer chips developed and invented in the US are not exported to the Chinese Communist Party, to prevent them from jeopardizing US national security.
On April 17th, during a campaign event in battleground state Pennsylvania, Biden said, “They can’t go to China because it will undermine our national security.”
“When I talk to (CCP leader) Xi Jinping, he says, ‘Why not?’ I say, ‘Because you’ll use it for all the wrong reasons and you won’t get those advanced computer chips,'” Biden said.