FedEx apologizes to Huawei for ‘mis-routing’ its packages to US ‘in error’

American logistics giant FedEx has apologized to Chinese tech firm Huawei after several of their packages were re-routed to the United States, where authorities are waging a broad campaign against the company.

Huawei spokesman Joe Kelly said that the diverted packages contained “important commercial documents,” and that the incident had “undermined their confidence” in the US-based shipping company. Two packages containing “urgent documents” sent from Japan ended up being sent to the US, while Huawei’s shipping agent blocked two more from Vietnam, which FedEx had also attempted to re-route.

Huawei says that it has since only received one of the nearly diverted packages from Vietnam, and that tracking records indicate the second is on the way.

“We will now have to review our logistics and document delivery support requirements as a direct result of these incidents,” the spokesman continued.

For its part, Fedex insists that there were “no external parties” involved in the decision, and apologized for the incident, calling it a matter of “mis-routing in error.” They also posted a statement to Chinese social media apologizing for “mishandling” the packages.

“We are aware of all shipments at issue and are working directly with our customers to return the packages to their possession,” a FedEx spokesman said. While the company acknowledged it was aware of the United States’ actions against Huawei, it didn’t elaborate on how this might affect business relations in the future.

The US recently placed Huawei onto an “entities list” over claims the company is an espionage threat due to alleged ties with the Chinese government. Although both Huawei and the Chinese government have denied the claims, and despite that, the US has yet to produce any actual proof, Washington has begun to enforce a ban against the company, encouraging governments around the world to follow suit.

The issue has become an important point of conflict between the US and China as a part of the countries’ ongoing trade war. Several other companies including Google and Microsoft have suspended business with Huawei in order to conform to the US’ trade ban.

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