US prosecutors in New York are investigating whether Chinese tech firm Huawei has violated US sanctions in relation to Iran, according to sources who follow the story closely.
Since at least 2016, U.S. authorities have been probing Huawei's alleged shipment of U.S.-sourced products to Iran and other countries in violation of U.S. export and sanctions laws, two of the sources said. .
The news of the Justice Department investigation follows a series of U.S. actions aimed at halting or reducing access by Huawei and Chinese smartphone maker ZTE Corp to the U.S. market, amid allegations that the companies may use their technology to spy on Americans.
The Justice Department source was heard by the U.S. Attorney's Office in Brooklyn, the sources say. John Marzulli, spokesman for the prosecution, would neither confirm nor deny the existence of the investigation. The rumor was first reported by the Wall Street Journal today.
Huawei, the world's largest manufacturer of telecommunications network equipment and the third largest supplier of smartphones, said it complies with "all applicable laws and regulations in which it operates, including applicable export control laws and regulations of United Nations, the United States and the EU. "
The rumor about Huawei is similar to that about the Chinese ZTE Corp which is threatening its survival. The United States last week banned American companies from selling parts and software to ZTE for seven years. Washington accused ZTE of violating a key agreement after the company illegally shipped US goods to Iran.
ZTE, which sells smartphones in the United States, has paid $ 890 millions of fines and penalties, with an additional $ 300 million penalty that could be imposed.
The US authorities have sued Huawei after having received information about possible export violations and sanctions, two sources said. Last April, the New York Times reported a mandate to oversee the US Treasury's Ministry of Foreign Affairs, issued in December 2016, following a convocation by the Department of Commerce in the summer.
Both companies have been screened by US lawmakers for cyber security concerns.
In Beijing, Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Hua Chunying said China opposed countries imposing their laws on others when asked if Huawei had violated US sanctions related to Iran.
"The position of China opposing nations using their national laws to impose unilateral sanctions."
"We hope the US does not take any action that further damages investor sentiment towards the economic situation."
In February, Senator Richard Burr, Republican chairman of the US Senate Intelligence Committee, cited concerns about the spread of Chinese technologies in the United States, which he called "counterintelligence and information security risks that come prepackaged with goods and services of some supplier countries ".
Republican Senators Marco Rubio and Tom Cotton have introduced legislation that would block the U.S. government from buying or leasing telecom equipment by Huawei or ZTE, citing concerns that Chinese companies would use their access to spy. United States officials.
In the 2016, the Commerce Department made public the documents showing ZTE's misconduct and also revealed that a second company, identified only as F7, had successfully evaded US export controls.
In a letter from 2016 to the Department of Commerce, 10 US lawmakers claimed that F7 would be deemed Huawei, citing media reports.
In April 2017, lawmakers sent another letter to Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross requesting that the F7 be publicly identified and fully investigated.
The U.S. government investigation into ZTE's sanctions violations followed Reuters reports from 2012 showing that the company had signed contracts to ship millions of dollars of hardware and software from some of the best-known U.S. tech companies. to Iran's largest telecommunications operator.
Reuters also previously reported suspicious activity related to Huawei. In January 2013, Reuters reported that a Hong Kong-based firm attempting to sell embargoed Hewlett-Packard computing equipment to Iran's largest mobile operator had much closer ties to China's Huawei Technologies than what was previously known.