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EU considering investigation into Huawei and ZTE's controversial trade practices

EU considering investigation into Huawei and ZTE's controversial trade practices

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The European Union's trade commissioner has said that a decision will soon be made on whether to investigate Chinese telecoms firms ZTE and Huawei for violations of international law. Karel De Gucht told the Wall Street Journal that the European Commission is in the process of collecting information on the two companies while discussing the matter with authorities in China. A Commission report seen by the Journal says that ZTE and Huawei are "clearly dumping" their products into the European market at low prices unfairly subsidized by Chinese government aid.

The EU has raised the possibility of investigating ZTE and Huawei before, but the last effort was delayed since no European manufacturer had formally complained about the Chinese companies' government subsidies, which is normally required. If the EU did press on with an investigation without receiving such a complaint, it would be an unprecedented move that could aggrieve Beijing, which has already had to deal with accusations that ZTE and Huawei pose a national security risk to the US.