The FCC last month voted unanimously to designate Huawei Technologies Co Ltd and peer ZTE Corp as national security risks, barring their U.S. rural carrier customers from tapping an $8.5 billion government fund to purchase Huawei or ZTE telecommunications equipment.

Huawei filed a petition Thursday with the Fifth Circuit Court in New Orleans challenging the FCC decision, court documents showed.

The FCC argued the companies’ ties to China’s government and military apparatus, and Chinese laws requiring that such companies assist the Chinese government with intelligence activities, pose a U.S. national security risk.

It also voted to propose requiring carriers remove and replace equipment from Huawei and ZTE in existing networks.

More at Reuters.