Export Controls Emerge as Favored US Tool for Russia and China

When the Trump administration in 2019 blacklisted Huawei Technologies Co., most US companies immediately cut ties with the Chinese multinational, then one of the world’s largest smartphone manufacturers. One notable exception was Seagate Technology Holdings Plc, the leading producer of hard-disk drives. For years, Seagate continued to export to Huawei, eventually selling it about 7.4 million drives worth more than $1 billion.

In April the US Department of Commerce announced that Seagate had agreed to pay the largest fine ever against a US company to settle an administrative violation of export controls. The $300 million penalty was a ...