The US Department of Commerce (DoC) announced on Wednesday that it has imposed a historic $300 million fine on the Singaporean subsidiary of California-based Seagate, accused of supplying hard drives to Chinese giant Huawei without prior US government approval. for AFP.
The sanction is based on a rule issued by the Department of Defense’s Bureau of Industry and Security (BIS) in August 2020 that requires foreign companies selling Huawei equipment to request permission if the latter contains US technology.
However, Seagate, which specializes in the production of hard drives used as storage media for smartphones and computers, continued to supply the Chinese group through its subsidiary in Singapore, which produced and supplied parts without prior approval, selling products worth about 1.1 billion US dollars. a little over a year, according to the ministry.
“Seagate acted in this way when its only two competitors stopped supplying Huawei, effectively becoming its sole source of supply,” the DoC said in a statement to justify its decision.
In addition, the Californian group signed a “three-year strategic cooperation agreement, becoming a ‘strategic supplier of Huawei’ and having priority over other suppliers,” the DoC added.
“This election has consequences: it is the largest administrative sanction in our agency’s history,” DoC spokesman John Sonderman was quoted as saying in the release.
“Any company that will export to a limited legal entity must ensure that its industrial process does not incorporate American technology into its products. If they do, they should tell us,” he added.
In a statement, group managing director Dave Mosley said that “while we believed we followed the rules when we made these sales, we felt it would be best to enter into an agreement with BIS.”
The administration of former US President Donald Trump banned companies in the country from doing business with Huawei. His successor, Joe Biden, strengthened the sanctions, including a ban on the sale of new brands of products in the United States.
Source: Hot News
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