Huawei has filed a complaint in a US federal court that challenges the constitutionality of Section 889 of the 2019 National Defense Authorisation Act (NDAA).

The multinational ICT firm issued a statement explaining that it is seeking a declaratory judgment "that the restrictions targeting Huawei are unconstitutional, and a permanent injunction against these restrictions."

Guo Ping, Huawei Rotating Chairman said: "The US Congress has repeatedly failed to produce any evidence to support its restrictions on Huawei products. We are compelled to take this legal action as a proper and last resort. This ban not only is unlawful, but also restricts Huawei from engaging in fair competition, ultimately harming US consumers. We look forward to the court's verdict, and trust that it will benefit both Huawei and the American people."

The lawsuit was filed in a US District Court in Plano, Texas. According to the complaint, Section 889 of the 2019 NDAA not only bars all US Government agencies from buying Huawei equipment and services, but also bars them from contracting with or awarding grants or loans to third parties who buy Huawei equipment or services, without any executive or judicial process.

ITWeb reported that in August 2018, US president Donald Trump banned the US government use of equipment made by the Chinese company and that the US is pushing allies to follow suit and keep Huawei out of planned 5G networks.

According to Huawei this violates the Bill of Attainder Clause and the Due Process Clause, as well as the Separation-of-Powers principles enshrined in the US Constitution, because Congress is both making the law, and attempting to adjudicate and execute it.

Song Liuping, Huawei's Chief Legal Officer, stressed, "Section 889 is based on numerous false, unproven, and untested propositions. Contrary to the statute's premise, Huawei is not owned, controlled, or influenced by the Chinese government. Moreover, Huawei has an excellent security record and program. No contrary evidence has been offered."

John Suffolk, Huawei's Global Cyber Security & Privacy Officer, added: "At Huawei we are proud that we are the most open, transparent, and scrutinised company in the world...Huawei's approach to security by design development and deployment sets a high standards bar that few can match."

Halting 5G

From Huawei's perspective, the NDAA restrictions prevent the company from providing more advanced 5G technologies to US consumers, which will delay the commercial application of 5G, in turn, impeding efforts to improve the performance of 5G networks in the US.

"Beyond this, network users in rural and remote regions of the US will be forced to choose between government funding and high-quality, cost-effective products. This will impede the network upgrade process, thus widening the digital divide. Even worse, the restrictions on Huawei will stifle competition, leaving US consumers paying higher prices for inferior products," the company added.

Huawei quotes industry sources as estimating that by allowing the company to compete would reduce the cost of wireless infrastructure by between 15% and 40%.

"This would save North America at least US$20-billion over the next four years," it added.

Lifting NDAA ban

Ping said, "If this law is set aside, as it should be, Huawei can bring more advanced technologies to the United States and help it build the best 5G networks. Huawei is willing to address the US Government's security concerns. Lifting the NDAA ban will give the US Government the flexibility it needs to work with Huawei and solve real security issues."

In early February 2019 ITWeb reported that Huawei may be losing favour in the west but it still has some friends out there - with Turkcell coming out in support of the Chinese company.

Turkcell CEO Kaan Terzioglu said in a statement that "Huawei has been a reliable business partner and the partnership is set to continue".

According to the report global scrutiny has been growing against the Chinese equipment-maker due to security worries linked to Huawei's close ties to the Chinese government, and allegations its equipment could hold backdoors to enable spying, which has not been definitively proved and which Huawei denies.

Terzioglu, however, said security vulnerability claims against Huawei cannot be evaluated in isolation from current developments in the market.