Chinese telecom giant Huawei has asked a U.S. federal court to rule, without going to trial, that a law prohibiting government agencies, contractors and grant recipients from buying or using Huawei products is unconstitutional.
Huawei lawyers filed a motion for summary judgment Tuesday seeking an accelerated end to the lawsuit the company originally filed in March.
The motion says the provision in the National Defense Authorization Act violates due process and amount to Congress judging the company guilty without a trial and without any way for Huawei to challenge the result. It asks a judge to decide there is no disputing the facts of the case and to rule in Huawei's favor.
U.S. lawmakers included the provision in the defense funding bill last year because of what they allege are ties between Huawei and the Chinese government, and security concerns that arise from that relationship.
Huawei has denied that is under control of any Chinese government entity, an assertion refuted by the U.S. government.
“What we see the underlying issue here is that it is within Chinese law that all of these companies, these networks, these technology companies, they are subservient to this authoritarian regime,” said State Department spokesperson Morgan Ortagus on Wednesday during a briefing.
“If the Chinese Communist Party asked for this technology or asked for this information, it's required by law for them to give it to their government,” she added.
The company says the U.S. ban has stigmatized the company and its employees, disrupted existing contracts and "seriously threatens Huawei's continued ability to do business in the United States."
Nike Ching at the State Department contributed.
