$300 million fine for selling products to HuaweiUS authorities have fined data storage company Seagate $300 million for selling hard disk drives to Chinese smartphone maker Huawei in violation of US export controls.
The country’s commerce ministry said Seagate Technology shipped $1.1 billion worth of goods to Huawei after the export control system was introduced in 2020.
Basically, the US government has taken steps to impose penalties to stop the sale of advanced technology to China. US authorities say such equipment could be used by the Chinese military.
The country’s Ministry of Commerce said the rule was introduced under former US President Donald Trump’s administration. In about a year since then, Seagate has shipped 7.4 million drives to Huawei.
Matthew Axelrod of the ministry’s ‘Bureau of Industry and Security (BIS)’ said, ‘Seagate continues to ship products to Huawei despite being on the list of companies considered a threat to our national security. The penalty has been imposed as a clarion call on the need for strict adherence to ‘BIS’ export norms for various companies. Various law enforcement agencies are working in the interest of our national security and to ensure a level playing field.
Meanwhile, Huawei’s two other major hard drive suppliers have stopped exporting their products under the new rules, the Commerce Ministry said.
On the other hand, Seagate said the fine will be paid in installments of $15 million every three months for the next 5 years.