The ongoing U.S. Commerce Department's investigation into Huawei Technologies over alleged export violations to sanctioned countries may be motivated by trade protectionism, according to Chinese analysts.

 "There has been an obvious rise in global trade protectionism, and China has been targeted as a main rival that poses a serious threat to U.S. jobs in the telecommunication sector," said Ma Yu, a senior researcher at the Chinese Academy of International Trade and Economic Cooperation.  

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Ma added that U.S. is focusing mainly on Chinese tech companies as they are striving to gain global presence in the lucrative market.

Xiang Ligang, an independent telecom analyst, claims that the ongoing probe will have minimal impact on Huawei, citing the company's strong portfolio of intellectual properties and its capability to build n-house chips and operating systems.

"Compared with ZTE, which chiefly relies on the US semiconductor company Qualcomm Inc for mobile chips, Huawei is using self-developed chips in its smartphones and tablets," Ligang said.  

Earlier this week, the U.S. Commerce Department issued a subpoena to Huawei Technologies for exporting products to Cuba, Iran, North Korea, Sudan, Syria and other countries on the U.S. sanction list. The United States imposed trade restrictions on the export of American-based technologies to these countries due to security concerns.  

The move comes months after another Chinese smartphone manufacturer, ZTE Corp, was penalized by U.S. Commerce Department for violating sanctions to Iran. However, after facing  sustained pressure from the Chinese government, the Commerce Department gave the Chinese IT giant a short-term reprieve.

Trade tensions between US and China have increased over past couple of months. Presidential candidates Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump have constantly raised trade issues with China during their election campaign, promising to introduce tough trade laws, which include stringent anti-dumping laws against Chinese steel companies.

TagsHuawei, china, ZTE Corp, Huawei probe, US Commerce Department, U.S., US sanctions