FedEx allegedly diverted parcels addressed to Huawei in China to the United States

FedEx said it’s an “error” and “isolated issue”

US express delivery company FedEx has allegedly diverted two parcels intended to be sent from Japan to a Chinese address of telecoms giant Huawei, sending them to the United States instead, without a detailed explanation. Huawei is now “rethinking” its relationship to the logistics company, Reuters reports.

The Shenzhen-based Huawei said the packages contained “important commercial documents”, and “no technology”.

Huawei said it had found similar attempts to divert packages sent from Vietnam to its China address.

Reuters said it had seen FedEx tracking records of the two parcels sent from Japan but was unable to independently verify other aspects of Huawei’s account.

Maury Donahue, a FedEx spokesperson quoted by Reuters said it was a “routing error” and “isolated issue” limited to a small number of packages.

The four affected parcels were sent after the US Commerce Department blacklisted Huawei, a move that effectively bars US suppliers from doing business with the Chinese company unless they have government approval.

Joe Kelly, a Huawei spokesman quoted by Reuters said the recent incidents undermined its confidence in FedEx and the company would now have to review their logistics and documents delivery options.

It’s not the first time FedEx stands accused of tampering with parcel delivery.

Earlier last week, a Chinese tech blogger said FedEx tried to divert chips sent from Huawei’s Taiwanese supplier to the United States. The US express delivery company dismissed the account of the incident as “seriously inconsistent with the facts” in a statement posted on its Weibo account.

“FedEx is committed to providing its customers with the high-quality logistic services they expect and [the company] is in strict compliance with applicable laws and regulations,” the statement read.

Huawei has allegedly also experienced problems with other courier services providers. Last Thursday, German express delivery company DHL denied an online rumor that it had suspended its services for Huawei.