As the trade war between the two largest economies of the world is going on, the Trump administration is doing everything it can do to stop Huawei from expanding its network across the globe.
According to the New York Times, the United States wants to exclude Huawei from building the infrastructure needed to produce the next generation of ultra-high speed internet.
Huawei has been under massive pressure from many western countries about the security of its technology and is part of the larger narrative of the U.S.-China trade battle. The United States has been using its diplomatic allies such as Britain, Poland, and Germany to bar China-based firms from building its 5G.
Recently, the United States has cited the reason of national security not to used Huawei products as well as any Chinese equipment. It alleges the use of Chinese equipment could provide backdoor access for the Chinese government into U.S. networks. It should be reported here that since 2012, Huawei has been prohibited from selling equipment in the U.S. because of security concerns by the U.S. Government.
However, Huawei has denied any of the charges flagged by the United States.
According to Reuters, Trump is also considering an executive order to declare a national emergency that would bar U.S. companies from using telecommunications equipment made by Huawei and ZTE, two of China’s biggest network equipment manufacturing companies.
As per the reports by New York Times, the U.S. government perceives fifth generation, or 5G, network, as part of a new arms race where the winner would gain an economic, intelligence and military edge for much of this century. The 5G technology would be a medium to allow more devices to be on one internet connection, with faster device communications and data transfers. The competition in the telecommunication space to move into 5G is fierce.
In reply to the mentioned news, China’s envoy to the European Union warned on Sunday that excluding Huawei could hamper 5G development.
Trump’s campaign against Huawei, the world’s largest maker of networking equipment and second largest smartphone seller, and other Chinese firms occurs at the same time China and the U.S. try to resolve their trade disputes by enforcing a tariff cease-fire that is expected to end in March.
It should be reported here that Trump and his Chinese counterpart Xi Jinping last month agreed to halt any new levies to give diplomacy a chance. However, when asked about the on-going trade negotiations with China last week, Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross said, the U.S. is still “miles and miles” from a deal.
