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Huawei will relocate its North American business unit after facing stiff opposition from the US government on its mobile and fixed line businesses
Chinese tech giant, Huawei, is set to move its US operations to Canada, according to the company’s founder, Ren Zhengfei.
In an interview with Canada’s Globe and Mail newspaper, Zhengfei said that Huawei would make the move following the US’ decision to remove Huawei kit from its rural fixed line networks.
Huawei is currently the world’s biggest supplier of 5G network equipment.
Huawei’s “centre for research and development will be moved out of the U.S. And that will be relocated to Canada,” Ren told the Globe and Mail.
Huawei has significantly downsized its US operations in recent months, after the US government placed it on the banned entities list earlier this year. During that time, the headcount at the facility fell from 600 staff to 250. Huawei spent $510 million operating the facility in 2018.
The announcement comes a month before the scheduled extradition hearing of Sabrina Meng Wanzhou, Huawei’s CFO, who is currently being detained in Vancouver. Ms Wanzhou is fighting extradition to the US, where Huawei faces allegations of violating international sanctions in Iran.
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