Huawei sues the US Government as a ‘last resort’ for ‘unconstitutional’ equipment ban

Ben Schoon | Mar 7 2019 - 6:30 am PT

The Huawei versus the United States Government saga continues this week, and now it’s getting especially interesting. Last night, Huawei announced that it was putting together a lawsuit against the US Government as a result of the “unlawful” ban on the company’s equipment and products.

As Reuters reports, Huawei has kicked off a lawsuit against the US Government in a federal court in Texas. The lawsuit challenges Section 889 of the National Defense Authorization Act which the President signed into law this past August. That law banned federal agencies and their contractors from obtaining services or equipment from Huawei.

In a statement, one Huawei chairman explains that this was a “last resort” for the company after the United States “repeatedly failed to produce any evidence to support its restrictions on Huawei products.” He further said that this ban also restricts the company from “engaging in fair competition” which it believes harms US customers in the long run.

Despite the worries of US Government officials, Huawei says that its “equipment and services are subject to advanced security procedures, and no backdoors, implants, or other intentional security vulnerabilities have been documented in any of the more than 170 countries in the world where Huawei equipment and services are used.”

While Huawei “looks forward” to the verdict and trusts that it will end in the company’s favor, some legal experts cast doubts. They say that Huawei faces an uphill battle and the lawsuit against the US Government is likely to be dismissed. This is because “U.S. courts are reluctant to second-guess national security determinations by other branches of government.”