German industrial and engineering giant Bosch has agreed to pay a $36 million penalty for selling goods and software to banned Chinese company Huawei between 2020 and 2024. According to the Bureau of Industry and Security (BIS), the company sold more than $72 million worth of MEMS sensors and automotive software during this period — items that required an export license from the Department of Commerce because they contained U.S.-origin technology, software, or intellectual property. These limitations apply to Bosch’s non-U.S. subsidiaries as well, which the company said unintentionally sold the products to Huawei.
The U.S. Justice Department (DOJ) said that it’s suspending its investigation into Bosch after it disclosed its own misconduct and that it won’t prosecute the company for this offense. “This declination reflects the clear benefits for companies that promptly disclose potential violations and fully assist in our investigations,” Assistant Attorney General for National Security John A. Eisenberg said in a statement. “Bosch’s cooperation and timely remediation met the high standards set by the Corporate Enforcement Policy, supporting a fair and efficient resolution.”
Bosch will also surrender nearly $11.5 million in profits that it made with the Huawei sales. The BIS said that the DOJ has partially suspended this disgorgement, meaning the German firm will only pay $3.6 million, and that it will also count this towards its own $36 million fine on the company.
“Bosch had several opportunities to avoid these violations had they exercised the increased vigilance BIS has repeatedly said it expects of companies whose transactions are governed by the EAR (Export Administration Regulations),” Assistant Commerce Secretary for Export Enforcement David Peters said. “Today’s action should serve as a warning to embrace compliance and as an example of the benefits of voluntary self-disclosure.”
For its part, Bosch said in a statement to Reuters that it will improve its trade compliance program to prevent future violations.
The U.S. has been stepping up the enforcement of its export controls and have been prosecuting companies and individuals caught breaking them. The U.S. Senate previously found in 2024 that the BIS was underfunded and that it relies on voluntary compliance by the firms that it watches over, but it seems that this has since changed. In 2025, Cadence Design Systems, a leading electronic design automation (EDA) firm, paid a $140 million penalty for selling software to Chinese military institutions. Applied Materials was also fined $252 million earlier this year for allegedly exporting tools to Chinese chipmaker SMIC. Four Supermicro employees, including its co-founder Yih-Shyan “Wally” Liaw, have also been arrested for allegedly smuggling banned Nvidia GPUs into China.
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