China threatens enforcers of US’s Huawei curbs with legal action

Published Wed, May 21, 2025 · 12:56 PM

CHINA said it could take legal action against anyone enforcing US restrictions on using Huawei Technologies’ artificial intelligence (AI) chips, escalating a dispute that’s upset a tentative truce on tariffs.

“China believes that the US abuses export controls to contain and suppress China, which violates international law and basic norms of international relations,” the Commerce Ministry in Beijing said in a statement on Wednesday (May 21), adding that this hurt the country’s development interests and companies.

“Any organisation or individual that implements or assists in the implementation of US measures” would be subject to the Anti-Foreign Sanctions Law and “and must bear corresponding legal responsibilities”, the ministry said.

The statement comes a day after China said the Trump administration undermined recent trade talks in Geneva because it warned that using the Huawei semiconductors “anywhere in the world” would violate US export controls.

The US Commerce Department has changed its wording to say the agency was issuing guidance about the risks of using China’s “advanced computing ICs, including specific Huawei Ascend chips”, removing the “anywhere in the world” reference. The formal guidance, dated May 13, says using Huawei’s Ascend chips “risks” violating export controls.

The Chinese Commerce Ministry did not go into detail on how individuals or entities could be punished under the Anti-Foreign Sanctions Law. There’s been concern that the legislation created in 2021 could be used against foreign firms operating in China.

The law is part of the toolbox Beijing has developed in recent years to push back against US sanctions and trade controls. Beijing has also rolled out an Unreliable Entity List and an Export Control Law. BLOOMBERG

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