Huawei will not be the target of new sanctions from the Trump administration contrary to threats from Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross. The Pentagon has decided to prevent the government from strengthening sanctions on the grounds that it "undermines the innovation of American companies". And that's not the only bad news for Donald Trump's team: in all likelihood, the UK should allow Huawei to deploy its 5G.
Credits: Lisbon Web Summit 2017
It would almost be forgotten: since his election to the White House, Donald Trump has suffered some particularly stinging failures. This was especially true at the beginning of his presidency when, for example, the new tenant of the White House signed a presidential decree prohibiting the entry of Iraqi, Libyan, Somali, Iranian, Sudanese, Syrian and Yemeni nationals for a period of 90 days. Before most of its effects are overturned by courts.
Shields raised
This time, the Pentagon is interfering in the particularly tense relations between the Trump administration and Huawei. Trade Secretary Wilbur Ross revealed last week that he intended to strengthen sanctions against Huawei. One likely option was to lower the U.S. IP threshold beyond which Huawei is not allowed to purchase a component or service. Currently, Huawei can only buy components from third-party firms if they contain less than 25% U.S. intellectual property.
While the details of the Trump administration's new sanctions package have not been made public, rumors about its contours have reportedly generated panic among companies and part of the defense sector. This did not fail to provoke an outcry from a part of the Pentagon. Some officials have argued that these tougher measures could permanently discourage the use of U.S. components abroad, weakening U.S. companies and the country's competitiveness. Especially in the silicon sector.
According to Forbes, the text was simply withdrawn. This new cover-up is not the only bad news for the Trump administration. According to Forbes, it is almost certain that the UK will retain Huawei as an OEM to deploy 5G. Huawei has indeed a strong 4G base in the country, and maintains a lead over the competition in the 5G deployment.
However, the UK has reportedly already acted on a limited role for the firm for several months. Turning everything upside down would simply be too costly at this stage, in a budgetary context complicated by Brexit. The UK's decision is expected in the coming days.
Source: Forbes