Huawei Technologies is now standing trial in a Brooklyn federal courtroom, facing accusations from U.S. prosecutors that the Chinese telecommunications giant ran a criminal enterprise for two decades — stealing trade secrets, misleading banks, and skirting sanctions on Iran.
The proceedings opened on September 9, with Justice Department attorney Taylor Stout summing up the government’s case in three words: “Theft, lies, cover-up.”
According to prosecutors, Huawei’s alleged conduct spans a broad range of federal offenses, including racketeering, money laundering, bank and wire fraud, sanctions evasion, and obstruction of justice. Among the specific allegations is that the company misappropriated internet-router source code from Cisco Systems and copied a robotic testing arm used by T-Mobile.
Huawei has firmly denied any wrongdoing. Defense attorney Brian Heberlig pushed back against the government’s framing, telling the jury the case centers on “competition, not conspiracy. Innovation, not theft. Ordinary business dealings, not criminal conduct.” He further argued that prosecutors had selectively picked isolated incidents to construct their case.
The trial has also drawn a sharp response from Beijing. China’s Foreign Ministry issued a statement condemning the prosecution, asserting that the government “firmly opposes the US side’s suppression and containment of Chinese enterprises.”
Proceedings are expected to continue for roughly three months, placing the trial’s timeline in direct overlap with Chinese President Xi Jinping’s scheduled visit to Washington from September 23 to 25 — a trip where trade policy, artificial intelligence, tariffs, and technology access are expected to feature prominently in discussions.
The legal battle has deep roots, tracing back to the first Trump administration, which added Huawei to a U.S. trade blacklist in 2019. It also builds on the 2018 arrest of Huawei’s Chief Financial Officer, Meng Wanzhou, in Vancouver. Statements she made as part of a subsequent deferred prosecution agreement are now set to be introduced as evidence in the current trial.
