Huawei was angry, at any rate. A spokesman said the alleged diversions "undermines [Huawei's] confidence," and that the company would "have to review" its logistics requirements as a result. It had already filed a complaint with China's postal regulator.

A FedEx spokeswoman said the packages were diverted "in error," and denied that the US government or anyone else had asked to send them somewhere else. It was "working directly" with companies to return packages to the right people.

While this could amount to a lot of fuss over nothing, it illustrates Huawei's growing outrage over the US' trade ban -- the company has already seen many of its most important US partners, including Google and Intel, abruptly cut off access to parts.