The U.S. Justice Department is investigating whether Huawei violated Iran-related sanctions, according to The Wall Street Journal, opening a new avenue for U.S. scrutiny of Huawei over national security concerns.
It's unclear how far the Justice Department's investigation has progressed or which specific charges federal agents are investigating Huawei.
Before the U.S. Justice Department launched a criminal investigation into Huawei, the U.S. Department of Commerce and the Office of Foreign Assets Control under the Treasury Department have issued administrative subpoenas to Huawei over sanctions-related issues, people familiar with the matter said.
It's worth noting that the DOJ's investigation has not been publicly reported before, and the criminal investigation means that Huawei's possible violations have reached a more serious level that could lead to severe administrative penalties and regulatory sanctions.
After the announcement, the stock prices of American semiconductor giants fell collectively, with NVIDIA down 3%, AMD down 3.4%, and Qualcomm and Xilinx also down about 0.5%.
The Philadelphia Semiconductor Index fell 0.7%, its fifth straight day of losses, and a loss of more than 9% over the past week.
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