The company under US ban isn’t getting its way these days. A 2018 Huawei lawsuit against the US federal ban on its devices is now dismissed in US District Court.
Huawei lawsuit against US federal ban dismissed
The US Defense Authorization Act (DAA) of 2018 forbids federal government officials from using devices from Huawei and ZTE. The Trump administration believes these companies are threats to national security. Huawei, in response, has filed a lawsuit to counter the ban. The goal was to get its devices restored to the US product list.
In US District Court, Judge Amos Mazzant says in his ruling that Huawei is in the wrong. “Contracting with the federal government is a privilege, not a constitutionally guaranteed right — at least not as far as this court is aware,” Mazzant said in his 57-page decision.
The reason why the Huawei federal ban lawsuit is dismissed
Huawei thinks the US has to be impartial to all companies, but Judge Mazzant says the US does not. The US can essentially decide which vendor(s) to do business with. The US believes Huawei is a threat to national security and a tool of Beijing espionage. It doesn’t want federal officials to use its products. The fear behind using Huawei products in federal offices pertains to hardware and software loopholes. Those vulnerabilities allow Huawei to spy on its users: in this case, federal officials.
There are excellent reasons to fear Huawei devices in federal offices. First, the majority of Huawei employees have military backgrounds in telecommunications. Even Huawei CEO Ren Zhengfei worked in telecommunications while in the military. Next, Bloomberg has revealed in recent months that Huawei employees have worked on some ten military projects with Beijing in areas such as artificial intelligence (AI). Last but not least, Huawei employees publish national technological papers while affixing the Huawei logo for governmental identification.
The US doesn’t have to allow Huawei devices on its network or in its government offices, even without reason. And yet, the US says its reason pertains to the confidentiality of national information and the need to keep possible spy tools away. The United States is a sovereign nation, subject only to itself in terms of its rules. Huawei’s lawsuit against the federal ban attempts to force the US to be subject to its thinking, but that doesn’t make sense. No company has the right to tell a sovereign nation how to run its affairs or who it can allow to sell in its borders.
Huawei’s Beijing privileges teach it a lesson
Huawei should understand how sovereign the US is because Beijing is sovereign over the Chinese state. In China, Beijing favors Huawei, giving the company no-interest loans and other financial subsidies to keep it afloat. And in fact, Huawei is the top Chinese OEM in the country, selling so many devices there that it ranks in the top global vendors for 2019. The company belongs to government officials, with CEO Ren Zhengfei owning a mere 2% of the company stock. And, with its favorite status, Huawei devices are the top Chinese devices in its home country. There are companies like OnePlus and Xiaomi, among others, that do not receive subsidies or favorite treatment like Huawei.
Huawei wants the US to follow fair practices and rules, but the company itself doesn’t do that in China. If Huawei really believes that countries should allow all companies to sell, then Beijing should give federal subsidies to companies like OnePlus and Xiaomi to help sell their devices. Of course, that would put those companies on even keel with Huawei, which it wouldn’t want. So, in essence, Huawei’s lawsuit indicates that it wants the US to do something that the Chinese Government doesn’t do. It resorts to nothing more than “do as I say, not as I do.” Ask a parent how that works out with children, and you’ll understand why it’s illogical.
Huawei: breaking rules (in this case, bans)
Huawei is no stranger to breaking the rules. The Defense Authorization Act of 2018 isn’t the only rule the US put in place against the company. Just last year, US President Donald Trump banned Huawei devices from being sold in the US. It wasn’t long after that when US officials discovered that Huawei attempted to illegally smuggle its phones from Mexico into the US with a disguising paint job. Even with the Defense Authorization Act and the national ban in place, Huawei still doesn’t want to play by the rules.
A company that doesn’t play by the rules when bans are in effect doesn’t have a right to go to court and cry “constitutional rights.” Those rights only come when companies obey and adhere to the US Constitution. Huawei, however, just doesn’t play fair. And Huawei’s choice to break the rules isn’t a constitutional problem. It’s a Huawei problem.