The past couple of days have been very bad for Huawei. The Chinese company is amidst a cold war in tech with the U.S. administration under the directives of President Trump and his operatives. What happened is that the U.S. blacklisted Huawei, world’s second largest smartphone manufacturer and one of the leading telecoms and network corporations, from doing business with American companies without approval from the U.S. government.
Huawei has been fronted by the Chinese government to showcase the Asian country’s progress and dominance in the world of technology, but its developments have been curtailed by the ban that stops Huawei from buying or licensing American parts. The move has already affected global supply chains because American companies can no longer sell products and services to Huawei without seeking guidance and a go-ahead from their administration.
As of today, Huawei is pursuing a lawsuit against the U.S. that faults the ban, terming it ‘unconstitutional’ and a bullying tactic. Huawei says that it wants the Trump administration to cease mounting illegal actions against it, and that the antics are malicious as they target to put the 30-year old tech company out of business. The U.S. continues to support the ban citing security concerns, which, surprisingly, have not been backed up by solid evidence. Huawei has, of course, denied the allegations by arguing that their devices and services do not pose any security issues.
Yesterday, Huawei filed a motion asking the Court to drop sections of the National Defense Authorization Act. Huawei argues that part of the Act, which bans any business dealings between the U.S. government and Huawei/ZTE is unconstitutional as it singles out individual companies and groups without a court ruling. The Trump administration, on the other hand, wants Huawei and China in general to play fair: that they should stop stealing intellectual property from Americans and unfairly subsidizing their products and services.
Several arguments have since been discussed about Huawei’s survival. Some argue that the tech firm must negotiate for some form of lenience from U.S.’s Commerce department. Some have argued that the ban is setting a dangerous precedent for future business dealings. For instance, a section of American allies have put on hold the development of 5G infrastructure by Huawei that leads the pack, derailing the growth of the technology.
