Back before he got elected, Donald Trump’s rally was to make America great again and when he got elected, he followed through by going to trade wars with America’s trade partners who he considered to be taking advantage of the country – China was among them and Huawei was caught in this storm.
Donald Trump declared a national emergency against US technology. Huawei and its 68 affiliates were then put on the Commerce Department’s Bureau of Industry and Security (BIS) Entity List. What this meant was that the giant telecoms company was prevented from obtaining any US parts and components unless the US government issued them a license.
US companies compiled starting from Google, Intel, Qualcomm and now Facebook. British chip developer, ARM also cut ties. Huawei later got a 90-day reprieve as a lifesaver but also meant that the future of its upcoming devices was uncertain.
In a C-SPAN video( it starts about 41 minutes in), Donald Trump was spotted saying that Huawei could be used as a bargaining chip with China in their ongoing trade talks.
“It would look very good for us.”
According to Reuters, US Treasury secretary Steve Mnuchi added that Donald Trump could go easy on the restrictions if positive progress is made.
“I think what the president is saying is, if we move forward on trade, that perhaps he’ll be willing to do certain things on Huawei if he gets comfort from China on that and certain guarantees,” Steve said.
Steve goes ahead to add that the US is prepared to come to a deal with China but tariffs would be maintained if necessary.
If China and the US reach an agreement, Huawei could be off the hook and return to its goal of passing Samsung in its path to becoming the number one global smartphone company.
If the trade agreements don’t go well and restrictions continue, Huawei will have to go forth with their own OS and design new chipsets for their future models.
