US Government Seeks Huawei Lawsuit Dismissal

The legal battle between Chinese networking giant Huawei Technologies and the US government took a fresh turn this week.

The US government has filed a motion asking for the dismissal of a lawsuit by Huawei Technologies, that alleged the United States acted illegally when it blacklisted Huawei’s products, Reuters reported.

Huawei is currently on the US entity list, having been placed there ever since President Trump signed an executive order in May.

Lawsuit dismissal

Huawei had sued the US government in March over a ban on the use of its telecoms products, in an effort to push back against what it said are baseless US allegations against the firm.

It had filed the lawsuit in the US district court in Plano, Texas, the Dallas suburb where its US headquarters are located, targeting a 2018 measure that bans US government agencies from buying Huawei equipment.

The National Defence Authorisation Act, signed in August of last year, also bars US government agencies from using third-party contractors who use Huawei products.

In May this year Huawei expanded its lawsuit, and is now seeking a summary judgement saying that the ban is ‘unconstitutional’.

Hearings are slated for September.

Meanwhile the US government is seeking a dismissal of the case, but on what grounds it is not yet clear.

US blacklisting

Following President Trump’s executive order in May, the US Commerce Department had immediately added Huawei and 70 affiliates to its so-called Entity List, which bans them from buying parts and components from US companies without US government approval.

That decision makes it difficult, if not impossible, for Huawei, to sell certain products because of its reliance on US suppliers for essential silicon and other components.

The US Commerce Department however has given Huawei a 90-day stay of execution to the imposition of trade restrictions on Huawei – meaning it is still allowed to buy US goods until 19 August.

And despite what President Trump said to the Chinese President at the G20 meeting last month, the Commerce Department insisted this week it was reviewing license requests from US companies seeking to export products to Huawei “under the highest national security scrutiny” since the company is still blacklisted.

Talks between China and the United States will resume next week, so further developments are likely.

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