US$300 million fine for company that exports hard drives to China’s Huawei

The United States has fined the technology company Seagate $300 million for violating export controls by selling hard drives to Chinese technology giant Huawei.

According to the BBC report, the US Department of Commerce reported that Seagate Technology shipped more than $1.1 billion worth of goods to Huawei after the introduction of export controls in 2020.

Seagate will pay the $300 million fine for this reason in installments of $15 million every three months for 5 years.

The sanction, which came as the United States tried to block exports of technology products such as advanced computer chips to China, is the latest attempt by Washington to stop the sale of advanced technology to Beijing.

MANY COUNTRIES HAVE BANNED

Huawei was included in trade restrictions in 2019 as part of efforts to reduce sales of US products to the company due to US foreign policy and national security concerns.

The United States believes that the Chinese military could use the technology to support human rights abuses or threaten US national security. China denies the accusations.

In recent years, many countries other than the US have taken various actions against Chinese technology companies due to security concerns.

Companies specializing in 5G technology such as Huawei, ZTE and Hytera have been banned from installing equipment on networks in the US, Australia, Japan, India and Canada. The UK has required equipment installed by Huawei to be removed from 5G networks by 2027. (BRITISH AUTOMOBILE CLUB)