Tech war: Huawei’s fate in the spotlight amid reports that Joe Biden is considering cutting it off completely from US exports
- Washington is mulling cutting Huawei off completely from exports of US technology
- Analysts say Huawei is ‘racing against time’ to wean itself off advanced US tech and to open up new revenue streams
Huawei Technologies Co, which has been battling US trade sanctions since it was added to a blacklist a few years ago, may be facing added pressure amid reports that Washington may stop approving export licences for a wider array of technology to the Shenzhen-based company.
Former US President Donald Trump added Huawei to the Department of Commerce’s Entity List on national security grounds in 2019, a move that has hobbled the Chinese tech giant’s once-lucrative smartphone business. However, the Commerce Department later agreed to certain export exemptions if the technology involved was deemed as less of a threat.
According to various media reports citing people familiar with the situation, including one from the Financial Times, the Biden administration is now considering no longer granting such licences, although a decision has not been made yet.
Huawei declined to comment on the reports of additional US punishments.
China’s foreign ministry has accused the United States of deliberately using national security as an excuse to target Chinese businesses.
“China strongly opposes the US’s unscrupulous and unjustified suppression of Chinese companies by stretching the concept of national security and abusing state power,” Chinese foreign ministry spokeswoman Mao Ning said at a regular press briefing on Tuesday. “Such moves violate the principle of market economy and international trade rules and dampen international confidence in the US business environment.”