Huawei files motion to declare US ban ‘unconstitutional’

Chinese tech giant Huawei has filed a motion with a Texas court to overturn the ban on its products, arguing that the 2019 National Defense Authorization Act illegally targeted the company in violation of due process.

The NDAA, used by the Donald Trump administration to ban Huawei's technology from competing in the US marketplace, directly targets the Chinese telecommunications equipment company “without opportunity for rebuttal or escape,” Song Liuping, the firm’s chief legal officer, said ahead of Tuesday’s filing.

“The law provides Huawei with no opportunity to rebut the accusations, to present evidence in its defense, or to avail itself of other procedures that impartial adjudicators provide to ensure a fair search for the truth,” Liu said.

The ban is a quintessential bill of attainder and a violation of due process.

The motion for summary judgment filed by the tech giant with the Eastern District Court of Texas seeks a judge’s decision on newly imposed restrictions on Huawei products without going to a full trial. Back in March, Huawei sued the US over a clause of the NDAA (Act. Section 889 ) which bans government agencies from procuring telecommunications hardware made by the Chinese firm. The court has scheduled a hearing for September 19 to consider Huawei's claims.

The company argues that the ban is unconstitutional because Washington specifically singled out two Chinese firms – ZTE and Huawei - in its text. It maintains that NDAA is part of the Trump administration’s campaign of political and economic pressure against China, designed to give US companies an unfair competitive advantage.

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