Huawei reiterated its stance that a move to block it and other Chinese companies from bidding for US government-funded contracts was unlawful, as the country reportedly stepped-up its efforts by implementing a blanket ban.

The Chinese vendor is one of five companies targeted by the US White House move yesterday (7 August), which The New York Times (NYT) reported placed restrictions on commercial interactions by government agencies. The newspaper explained the action is part of a previous block implemented in a defence spending bill in 2018 which covered procurement of equipment and services from the companies.

Rival telecoms equipment vendor ZTE is also named in the action, along with Hikvision, a developer of facial-recognition technology, radio transceiver manufacturer Hytera, and video surveillance kit maker Dahua Technology.

Huawei told NYT it would keep fighting the block, branding the action “punitive” and lacking “evidence of wrongdoing”. The language is similar to that used in March, when the vendor filed a lawsuit against the original decision, which it said was “unlawful” and a barrier to “engaging in fair competition”.

The federal agency block is separate from a later move by the US to prevent domestic companies supplying components and equipment to Huawei implemented in May, the terms of which were later eased at the request of President Donald Trump.