Seagate Technology Holdings said in a filing the U.S. government has warned the company that it may have violated export control laws by providing hard disk drives to a customer that is Huawei Technologies (HWT.UL).
Huawei is on the U.S. Commerce Department's entity list and banned from receiving U.S. exports and certain foreign-made items without government approval.
Seagate was warned in a "proposed charging letter" it received from the Commerce Department on Aug. 29, according to the filing with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission.
The filing said the company's position is that the hard disk drives are not subject to the U.S. export regulations, and that it did not engage in prohibited conduct as alleged by the Commerce Department.
Seagate's filing did not identify the customer. Seagate paused its shipments to Huawei a year ago, said a source familiar with the matter.
Huawei was placed on the entity list in 2019 for activities deemed contrary to U.S. national security.
Seagate, a Dublin-based company that also operates in California, said it was cooperating with the Commerce Department and sought to resolve the matter.
