Huawei takes legal action against the US government for equipment ban

Huawei has announced that they are suing the US government for unconstitutional sales restrictions. With this lawsuit, Huawei seeks a declaratory judgement that the restrictions targeting Huawei are unconstitutional and a permanent injunction against these restrictions. The Chinese telecommunications giant has filed a complaint in a US District Court in Plano, Texas, where its US headquarters is located.

According to Huawei’s Rotating Chairman, Guo Ping, “The U.S. Congress has repeatedly failed to produce any evidence to support its restrictions on Huawei products. We are compelled to take this legal action as a proper and last resort.” He added that “This ban not only is unlawful, but also restricts Huawei from engaging in fair competition, ultimately harming U.S. consumers. We look forward to the court’s verdict, and trust that it will benefit both Huawei and the American people.”

According to Huawei, Section 889 of the 2019 National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) which was signed by President Donald Trump, not only bars all US government agencies from buying Huawei equipment and services, but also bars them from contracting with or awarding grants or loans to third parties who buy Huawei equipment or services, without any executive or judicial process. This violates the Bill of Attainder Clause and the Due Process Clause. It also violates the Separation-of-Powers principles enshrined in the U.S. Constitution, because Congress is both making the law, and attempting to adjudicate and execute it.

Huawei’s Chief Legal Officer, Song Liu Ping had stressed that the provision under the 2019 NDAA is based on numerous false, unproven and untested propositions. He emphasised that Huawei is not owned, controlled or influenced by the Chinese government. He added that Huawei has an excellent security record and no contrary evidence has been offered.

According to Huawei, the NDAA not only restricts the company from providing advanced 5G technologies to the US but it will also delay commercial applications of 5G which will impede efforts to improve the performance of 5G networks in the US. As a result, this will affect the network upgrade process which will widen the digital device in the country.

On top of that, the company also claims that without Huawei, US consumers will be paying higher prices for inferior products. They had cited industry sources that by allowing Huawei to compete, it will help to reduce the cost of wireless infrastructure by 15-40% and this would save at least US$20 billion over the next four years.

Rotating Chairman, Guo Ping also mentioned that Huawei can bring more advanced technologies to the US and help it to build the best 5G networks. They also iterated that the company is willing to address the US government’s security concerns. He added that lifting of the ban will allow the US government the flexibility to work with Huawei and to solve real security issues.

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