Huawei Technologies Company is reportedly establishing covert semiconductor fabrication facilities across China in order to evade US sanctions, according to Bloomberg.
This Chinese technology giant ventured into chip production the previous year and is said to be benefiting from approximately $30 billion in governmental funding, according to the Semiconductor Industry Association.
The association noted that the tech firm has procured at least two existing plants and is currently constructing three additional facilities.
In 2019, the US Commerce Department placed Huawei on its export control list due to concerns about security. Despite these concerns, the company refutes any claims of being a security threat.
Huawei’s overall revenue was about $91.53 billion in December 2022, down only slightly from 2021 when U.S. sanctions caused its sales to fall by nearly a third.
Earlier this year, sources revealed that the Biden administration stopped approving licenses for U.S. companies to export most items to Huawei.
A Commerce Department spokesperson said officials “continually assess our policies and regulations” but do not comment on talks with specific companies.
The recent Bloomberg report suggests that if the Chinese company is indeed establishing these facilities under the guise of other corporate entities, it could potentially bypass the restrictions imposed by the US government. This strategy might enable the company to indirectly obtain American chip manufacturing equipment.
Both Huawei and the Semiconductor Industry Association have yet to respond to requests for comments from Reuters.
As a result of being added to the US trade blacklist, Huawei has encountered severe trade restrictions, barring most suppliers from exporting goods and technology to the company unless authorized by licenses.
Over time, authorities have progressively tightened these controls in an effort to limit the tech firm’s capability to acquire or design semiconductor chips that are crucial to powering a majority of its products.
