Huawei reportedly asks FCC to drop national security risk label

Huawei has asked the Federal Communications Commission not to finalize its designation of the Chinese telecom giant as a US national security risk, Reuters reported on Monday. The company reportedly called the effort “unlawful and misguided.”

The FCC announced in November it had voted to bar rural carriers in the US from using federal subsidies to purchase equipment from Huawei because it allegedly poses a national security threat. The $8.5 billion a year Universal Service Fund is used by multiple programs to subsidize US broadband deployment and services.

Huawei filed a legal challenge to the move in December, calling the action unconstitutional. in a nearly 200-page filing with the FCC on Monday, Huawei said the action was “designed to implement a campaign by certain government officials, including members of Congress, to single out Huawei for burdensome and stigmatizing restrictions, put it out of business in the United States, and impugn its reputation here and around the world.”

The final decision on the designation has been left to the FCC’s Public Safety and Homeland Security Bureau.

The US has long alleged that Huawei maintains a tight relationship with the Chinese government, creating fear that equipment from the manufacturer could be used to spy on other countries and companies. Dropping the designation would run counter to the actions of President Donald Trump, who effectively banned the company from US communications networks with an executive order last May.

Neither Huawei nor the FCC responded to requests for comment.