A US district court has rejected a lawsuit brought by Chinese tech giant Huawei, who sought to sue the government over a law barring it from doing business with federal agencies, arguing its constitutional rights were violated.
District Judge Amos Mazzant ruled that the company had no grounds to sue on Tuesday, arguing Congress was within its rights to pass the 2019 National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA), which contains a provision blocking government entities and their contractors from buying from Huawei, as well as another Chinese tech firm, ZTE.
“Huawei is disappointed in today’s ruling and while we understand the paramount significance of national security, the approach taken by the US Government in the 2019 NDAA provides a false sense of protection while undermining Huawei’s constitutional rights,” a company representative told Politico, adding the company would pursue “further legal options.”
While Huawei’s suit, filed last year, argued that the NDAA provision was excessive and unfairly targeted certain companies, Mazzant insisted the bill did not prohibit the company from doing business in the United States, and that lawmakers were merely exercising their legal right to control federal spending.