FedEx files case against U.S. Commerce Department on Huawei restrictions

FedEx has filed a lawsuit against the U.S. Department of Commerce on Monday to avoid to follow the recent restriction that has been imposed in order to do business with Huawei.

FedEx diverted important document packages, reviewing relationship: Claims Huawei

“FedEx is a transportation company, not a law enforcement agency,” the company said in a statement.

In May, the US Commerce Department added Huawei into the “Entity List” or simply called a trade blacklist – an action that bans Huawei from buying components and services from American firms.

“FedEx believes that the EAR violates common carriers’ rights to due process under the Fifth Amendment of the U.S. Constitution as they unreasonably hold common carriers strictly liable for shipments that may violate the EAR without requiring evidence that the carriers had knowledge of any violations,” FedEx said in a statement.

“This puts an impossible burden on a common carrier such as FedEx to know the origin and technological make-up of contents of all the shipments it handles and whether they comply with the EAR,” it added.

Meanwhile, the Chinese Foreign Ministry wants answers from FedEx and said the package error showed that the U.S. government abuses the concept of national security while using its status to suppress a Chinese company.

Currently, the Chinese ministry is also investigating the case of misdirecting Huawei packages by FedEx in different countries.