Chinese giant telecom equipment maker Huawei has sued the United States on Thursday stating a law limiting Huawei’s US business was “unconstitutional”, ramping up a fight against the US government over closing it out of the global market.
According to Reuters news reports, Huawei has said it had lodged a complaint in a Texas federal court challenging Section 889 of the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA), which was signed into law by US President Donald Trump in last year’s August barring federal agencies and their contractors from obtaining Huawei’s equipment and services.
Before Trump has initiated the trade war, some of the activists of Huawei were already under scrutiny by the US authorities, according to Huawei investigations and documents related to it seen by Reuters.
In a statement, Huawei rotating chairman Guo Ping said, “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.”
The statement added, “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.”
Huawei, in its lawsuit filed against the US, said its “equipment and services are subject to advanced security procedures, and no backdoors, implants, or other intentional security vulnerabilities have been documented in any of the more than 170 countries in the world where Huawei equipment and services are used”.
Amid Washington prompting its allies to ban Huawei building 5G network, Huawei has embarked on a legal offensive and public relations.
In a news briefing at Huawei’s headquarters in southern China, Guo said, “The U.S. Government is sparing no effort to smear the company and mislead the public.”
In the lawsuit, Huawei argued the section is illegal because it could limit the company’s access and ability to do business in the USA despite any proof of wrongdoing.
However, some legal experts said the lawsuit “will be an uphill battle because Congress has broad authority to protect us from perceived national security threats”.