WASHINGTON (Reuters) -The U.S. on Tuesday said it revoked some licenses that allow companies to ship goods, such as chips, to the sanctioned Chinese mobile phone and laptop maker Huawei Technologies.
The move comes after the release last month of Huawei’s first AI-enabled laptop, the MateBook X Pro powered by Intel’s new Core Ultra 9 processor.
That announcement drew fire from Republican lawmakers, who said it suggests the Commerce Department had given the green light to Intel to sell the chip to Huawei.
Huawei, which also uses Qualcomm chips in its phones, did not immediately comment on the move by the U.S. Commerce Department.
Some companies were notified today that their licenses were revoked effective immediately, according to a person familiar with the matter.
A spokesperson for Intel declined comment.
The United States placed Huawei on a trade restriction list in 2019 amid fears it could spy on Americans, part of a broader effort to handicap China’s ability to bolster its military. Being added to the list means the company’s suppliers have to seek a special, difficult-to-obtain license before shipping.
Even so, suppliers to Huawei have received licenses worth billions of dollars to sell Huawei goods and technology, including one particularly controversial authorization, issued by the Trump administration, which has allowed Intel to ship central processors to Huawei for use in its laptops since 2020.
(Reporting by Alexandra Alper, David Shepardson, Karen Freifeld and Chris Sanders; Editing by Chris Reese and Daniel Wallis)
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