Seagate fined $300 million for supplying Huawei drives during sanctions

The US government imposed a fine of $300 million on Seagate for alleged violation of export controls on the supply of hard drives to the Chinese company Huawei, writes BBC.

According to the US Department of Commerce, Seagate Technology supplied Huawei with goods worth more than $1.1 billion after the introduction of export controls in 2020. Seagate supplied Huawei with 7.4 million drives in about a year after the export ban was imposed by former President Donald Trump’s administration. The US government believes that this equipment could be used by the Chinese military.

Seagate continued to ship “even after Huawei was placed on the Entity List for conduct inimical to our national security,” said Matthew Axelrod of the Department of Commerce Bureau of Industry and Security. Meanwhile, two other major suppliers of hard drives to Huawei stopped exporting after the restrictions were imposed.

“This settlement is a clarion call about the need for companies to comply rigorously with BIS export rules, as our enforcement team works to ensure both our national security and a level playing field,” Mr Axelrod added.

The $300 million fine will be paid in installments of $15 million every three months over the next five years, reported Seagate.