Huawei Technologies Co. Ltd. is a Chinese multinational technology company that provides telecommunications equipment and sells consumer electronics including smartphones, headquartered in Shenzhen, Guangdong, China. The company was founded in 1987 by Ren Zhengfei.

Chip designer ARM has suspended business with Huawei, threatening the Chinese company’s ability to create its own chips. BBC News reports that ARM employees have been instructed to halt “all active contracts, support entitlements, and any pending engagements” with Huawei due to the US trade ban. The US has banned any US companies from doing business with the Chinese telecom giant without permission from the American government, but ARM is based in the UK and owned by the Japanese SoftBank group.

ARM is concerned it is affected by the US ban, with an internal memo reportedly revealing that its chip designs include “US origin technology.” ARM develops some processor designs in Austin, Texas and San Jose, California, which could place it under the US restrictions. Huawei relies on ARM for chip architecture designs for its own Kirin processors, and it pays to license these. Without the licenses, Huawei will not be able to continue manufacturing its own processors using ARM designs and its HiSilicon fabless semiconductor company.

“ARM is complying with the latest restrictions set forth by the US government and is having ongoing conversations with the appropriate US government agencies to ensure we remain compliant,” says an ARM spokesperson in a statement to The Verge. “Arm values its relationship with our longtime partner HiSilicon and we are hopeful for a swift resolution on this matter.”

“We value our close relationships with our partners, but recognize the pressure some of them are under, as a result of politically motivated decisions,” says a Huawei spokesperson in a statement to The Verge. “We are confident this regrettable situation can be resolved and our priority remains to continue to deliver world-class technology and products to our customers around the world.”