Huawei and 5G: the risks are real

GUARDIAN

Trump’s Latest Move Takes Straight Shot at Huawei’s Business

The Commerce Department announced restrictions on the company’s access to American technology.
By restricting Huawei’s ability to buy American components, Washington could hamstring the technology giant’s operations worldwide 

NY TIMES

The Trump administration has filed criminal charges against Huawei for stealing technology. It has all but snuffed out the Chinese tech giant’s sales in the United States, calling the firm an espionage threat. And it has tried to persuade other governments to do similarly.

But Washington had not taken a straight shot at Huawei’s ability to do business anywhere in the world until late Wednesday, when the Commerce Department announced restrictions on the company’s access to American technology.

American companies including Qualcomm, Intel and Broadcom sell Huawei microchips and other specialized parts that go into its smartphones and telecom equipment. Google’s Android software powers its phones. Of the $70 billion that Huawei spent on components and other supplies last year, $11 billion went to American companies, a Huawei spokesman, Joe Kelly, said.

If Huawei is cut off from these suppliers, the effect could be catastrophic for the millions of people who use Huawei smartphones — and for the mobile networks, across a wide swath of the planet, that run on Huawei gear.

It would be “the trade equivalent of a nuclear bomb,” said Kevin J. Wolf, a partner at the law firm Akin Gump Strauss Hauer & Feld and an assistant secretary of commerce under President Barack Obama.

Much remains unclear, however, about the scope and potential impact of the Commerce Department’s move. The department says it is putting Huawei on its “entity list” of firms that need special permission to buy American components and technology. How it decides to grant such permissions, and how broad a range of products the policy covers, will determine how badly Huawei’s business is disrupted.