Huawei sues U.S. government over equipment ban

Chinese tech giant Huawei on Thursday said it is suing the United States over a law introduced last year that bans government agencies from buying its equipment.

Huawei in a statement said it has filed a complaint in a U.S. district court in Texas, challenging the U.S. National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA), which mentioned Huawei and ZTE by name.

The firm argues the restrictions targeting it are "unconstitutional".

Huawei Rotating Chairman Guo Ping (C), Glen Nager (R), partner at Jones Day and Lead Counsel on the action, President of Huawei 5G production line Yang Chao Bin (2-R), Senior Vice President and Chief Legal Officer for Huawei Song Liu Ping (3-L), Senior Vice President and Global Cyber Security and Privacy Officer of Huawei (2-L) and Li Da Peng, Executive Member of Supervisory Board (L), attend a press conference in Shenzhen, Guangdong Province on March 7, 2019. [Photo: IC]

The U.S. Congress has repeatedly failed to produce any evidence to support its restrictions on Huawei products, Guo Ping, Huawei Rotating Chairman said at a press conference in southern Chinese city Shenzhen, where Huawei's headquarters are based. “We are compelled to take this legal action as a proper and last resort."

The lawsuit was filed in a U.S. District Court in Plano, Texas.

"Section 889 of the 2019 NDAA not only bars all U.S. 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," Huawei said in the statement.

"Section 889 is based on numerous false, unproven, and untested propositions. Contrary to the statute's premise, Huawei is not owned, controlled, or influenced by the Chinese government," Song Liuping, Huawei's Chief Legal Officer, told reporters at the press conference.

Estimates from industry sources show that allowing Huawei to compete would reduce the cost of wireless infrastructure by between 15 percent and 40 percent. This would save North America at least 20 billion U.S. dollars over the next four years.

Guo Ping expressed his belief that Huawei can bring more advanced technologies to the United States and help it build the best 5G networks.

"Huawei is willing to address the U.S. Government's security concerns. Lifting the NDAA ban will give the U.S. Government the flexibility it needs to work with Huawei and solve real security issues," Guo added.

The logo of Huawei. [File photo: IC]

By the end of 2018, Huawei had secured more than 25 commercial contracts for 5G networks.

Last year saw Huawei conduct 5G testing with over 30 leading operators in more than ten cities around the world. The company said it expected its revenue in 2018 to exceed 100 billion U.S. dollars for the first time.

The company also built a cloud-based network and digital operation and maintenance systems with data center as the core.