President Donald Trump ruffled some feathers within his own political party after announcing that he will consider loosening regulations against Chinese technology giant Huawei.
On Saturday, President Trump announced that he is considering allowing Huawei — which is one of the biggest telecommunications companies on the planet — to consider sales in the United States as part of his trade negotiations with China.
I had a great meeting with President Xi of China yesterday, far better than expected. I agreed not to increase the already existing Tariffs that we charge China while we continue to negotiate. China has agreed that, during the negotiation, they will begin purchasing large…..
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) June 29, 2019
….again with China as our relationship with them continues to be a very good one. The quality of the transaction is far more important to me than speed. I am in no hurry, but things look very good! There will be no reduction in the Tariffs currently being charged to China.
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) June 29, 2019
While many were happy to see progress on trade negotiations, many fear this could be a disaster for the United States.
Here are five things to know about Trump’s negotiations with Huawei.
Why does everyone seem to hate Huawei?
Huawei is a controversial company, to say the least. The tech giant leads in many corners of the global tech industry, including number one in telecommunications and number two in cell phone production.
While Huawei actually produces more phones than Apple, there is a reason why the company may sound unfamiliar to many Americans: They’ve been blacklisted from the United States.
Huawei’s ban wasn’t an attempt to protect American made products. This ban went into place due to national security concerns.
Although Huawei maintains that it is an independent company, many believe the tech giant and the Chinese government have significant overlap. As the New York Times attempted to explain, the lines between the Chinese Communist Party and Huawei are incredibly blurred. The company claims that it is owned by its employees, but reports claim the Chinese government has a firm grasp on the company — as it does with most industries.
Because of this tie to the Chinese government, American security experts fear that the company will sell data collected on Huawei products and use them against American security interests.
These fears aren’t unfounded. According to a report from the Wall Street Journal, White House officials found that Huawei products collected information from consumers without consent.
“This report supports our assessment that since 2009, Huawei has maintained covert access to some of the systems it has installed for international customers. Huawei does not disclose this covert access to customers nor local governments. This covert access enables Huawei to record information and modify databases on those local systems.”
These findings prompted the Trump administration to slowly restrict Huawei’s products until they were essentially banned from sale in the United States. Similar bans have been taken up by European countries, as well.
What are Republicans saying about Trump’s deal?
Trump plans to allow the sale of widely available Huawei products in the United States, but most Republicans aren’t having it.
Senator Marco Rubio (R-Fla.) has been Huawei’s loudest critic.
If President Trump has agreed to reverse recent sanctions against #Huawei he has made a catastrophic mistake.
It will destroy the credibility of his administrations warnings about the threat posed by the company,no one will ever again take them seriously. https://t.co/jEhHcblsVG
— Marco Rubio (@marcorubio) June 29, 2019
We must remain clear eyed about the national security threat #Huawei poses to the U.S. and our allies. ⬇ pic.twitter.com/1CW9TaXTZA
— Senator Rubio Press (@SenRubioPress) July 1, 2019
Following Trump’s announcement on Huawei, Rubio made it clear that he would do everything in his power to stop Huawei from getting its foot back into the U.S. market place. He took to Twitter and vowed to draft legislation to block Huawei if Trump’s trade deals grant them access to the U.S.
Rubio claimed such legislation would pass with a “veto-proof majority.”
If President Trump has in fact bargained away the recent restrictions on #Huawei, then we will have to get those restrictions put back in place through legislation.
And it will pass with a large veto proof majority.
— Marco Rubio (@marcorubio) June 29, 2019
From the looks of things, he might be right. Many Republican senators have made it clear that they do not support Huawei’s reentrance into U.S. markets.
President Trump needs to stand strong against Huawei and stay consistent in making sure they have ZERO access to the US market.
It’s clear that Huawei has the capacity and the desire to steal our private information and use it against us. (2/3)
— Rick Scott (@SenRickScott) June 30, 2019
We need less Huawei, not more Huawei. They want their equipment and networks to be the future of spying. It’s time to stop them in their tracks. https://t.co/92E6VfFoEI
— Sen. Marsha Blackburn (@MarshaBlackburn) June 30, 2019
What are Democrats saying about Trump’s deal?
Republicans are not alone in their concerns over Huawei.
Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) made it clear he would work to oppose the Chinese tech giant. Schumer — like Trump — understands that Huawei is a bargaining chip to be used in trade deals with China, but he thinks this is the wrong time to use it.
President @realDonaldTrump: This is unacceptable. Why are you backing down again on China?
Huawei is one of few potent levers we have to make China play fair on trade.
This will dramatically undercut our ability to change China’s unfair trade practices. https://t.co/B99BbZ6LDG
— Chuck Schumer (@SenSchumer) June 29, 2019
With support from leading Republicans and Democrats, it looks like Rubio is right about securing a veto-proof majority against deals with Huawei.
Who supports Trump’s decision?
From the looks of things, no one is on board politically with Trump’s decision on Huawei. However, some in the tech industry see open dealings with Huawei as a good thing.
When Trump originally pulled the plug on Huawei phones, some U.S. tech companies that provide software for the company lost out on a lot of business. Google, for instance, stopped providing Andriod operating systems to Huawei when they became blacklisted in the U.S.
“The (US) companies were not exactly happy that they couldn’t sell,” Trump noted during the G20 Summitt on Saturday.
Although it isn’t yet clear if these companies would reopen sales to Huawei, they could stand to make a significant profit if Huawei sales took off in the U.S.
What is going to happen next?
It isn’t clear.
The Trump administration has yet to release the full details of their plan for Huawei and, from the sound of things, the plan is contingent on Chinese officials coming to an agreement with Trump.
Many, including Rubio, still have questions about what products will be included in Trump’s negotiations.
Q:Are you taking #Huawei off entity list?
@POTUS:“No,not at all. No,no…,but we are going to be supplying equipment from our companies…”Does this mean continuation of current policy? Huawei on Entity List but allow U.S. export of very specific non-critical components?
— Marco Rubio (@marcorubio) June 29, 2019
However, it is pretty clear that Rubio and his colleagues in the Senate plan to throw up as many roadblocks as possible to prevent Huawei from cruising back into the U.S. market.
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