The U.S. government appears to be giving Huawei a lifeline to resume doing business with American companies. President Trump met with President Xi Jinping of China at the G-20 summit in Osaka, Japan this past weekend, according to Reuters. The two leaders reached an agreement that would allow U.S. companies to supply components to Huawei for only its products that are made widely available to several global markets.
While the U.S. government is giving Huawei even more leeway, the company remains on the so-called “Entity List“, which largely bans the manufacturer from using American technologies to develop products under the threat of U.S. national security. This reprieve loosens some of the restrictions on Huawei’s business dealings with the U.S; however, security remains a major concern. National Economic Council chairman Larry Kudlow gave more context on the new development on “Fox News Sunday.”
Has the Huawei ban ever been in full effect?
The deal could be more of a move to benefit American companies who have also lost business from Huawei. As the second largest global smartphone maker, the Chinese manufacturer is a major client of U.S. technology names, including Google, Microsoft, Intel, Qualcomm, Panasonic, and ARM. These companies quickly announced either dissociation with Huawei when the Entity List executive order went into effect in late-May, however, the backtracking begun just as quickly.
Google originally revoked its software license from Huawei, which could have been a major blow for the company’s Android products in major markets such as Canada and Europe. However, the U.S. Commerce Department quickly gave Huawei a three-month lien, allowing it to provide security updates to its smartphones and tablets. The lien is set to expire on August 19, but the latest agreement could add some more color to the ongoing blacklist saga.
Almost business as usual at Huawei
Amid these supposed restrictions, Huawei has done its best to keep its smartphone brand running as usual. The company’s subsidiary brand has announced its Honor 20 smartphone series in May and released the devices internationally in June. The manufacturer also sent out its EMUI 9.0 update that brings Android P to its Mate 20 series devices last week. Huawei also announced nearly two weeks ago that it has submitted almost 20 devices for Android Q certification.
The U.S. ban has similarly begun to affect international markets, with foreign carriers redacting their plans to offer the 5G powered Huawei Mate 20 X; however, recent reports indicate the smartphone will be available in Finland, Romania, Switzerland, United Kingdom, France, Germany, Spain, Italy, Ireland, and Belgium by the end of July.
Huawei trading future remains uncertain
Huawei’s troubles are likely far from over, but what was once being considered a nail in the coffin for the global powerhouse is turning out to be an intriguing game of capitalist cat and mouse that has raised far more questions than it has answered. Huawei remains that it has not divulged U.S. trade secrets.
Meanwhile, commentators note that China like has plans to halt its own collaborations with American technology companies, such as Qualcomm, Intel, Broadcom, and Google. We can only imagine this is what brought along talks between the Chinese and U.S. Presidents.
