Trump linking Huawei with trade defies security claims

Bloomberg

President Donald Trump says he may resolve a dispute over Huawei Technologies Co as part of a trade agreement with China, yet doing so would undercut US assertions the company poses a national
security threat.
Days after trade talks with Beijing hit an impasse, the US put the Shenzhen-based maker of telecommunications gear on a blacklist over concerns it could serve Chinese intelligence. Trump could reverse that move, at least in part, by letting Huawei resume buying advanced chips and easing an expected import ban by allowing the company’s equipment in parts of the US network.
Such a decision would violate decades of economic diplomacy by the US, which has always sought to portray the placement of companies on a blacklist as apolitical and linked to narrow issues of national security. But Huawei has drawn the ire of Washington’s national security establishment — legitimately, many argue — at a time when the president is broadening the definition of national security to include economic cooperation.
“It’s hard to see how they could cut much slack for Huawei, without actually endangering national security,” James Lewis, director of the technology policy programme at the Center for Strategic & International Studies in Washington, said.
Last year, Trump lifted ruinous penalties on ZTE Corp, another Chinese technology giant, which had been accused of violating trade sanctions after a personal plea from China’s leader, Xi Jinping. The company paid a fine, revamped its board and provided security guarantees.
Trade talks between Beijing and Washington stalled this month as Trump accused China of backing out of a deal that the US said was almost completed, and Trump hiked tariffs on $200 billion of Chinese goods.
The Trump administration had held off on blacklisting Huawei out of concern that could disrupt the trade negotiations and only took action after the last round failed to advance.
Trump’s suggestion provoked rebukes. “I don’t think so,” Senator Tom Cotton, an Arkansas Republican, said on Bloomberg TV when asked whether Huawei should be part of trade talks. “Huawei is a serious national security threat. It’s a serious threat to the privacy of Americans.”

Mexico restaurant offers
free Tacos to Huawei users
Bloomberg

Since Huawei Technologies Co was cut off from US companies by new trade restrictions, consumers around the world have been trying to understand whether the Chinese company will still be able to support its devices.
In the UK, British consumers are trading in Huawei smartphones in growing numbers, concerned that the US will limit Huawei’s ability to use the Android operating system from Alphabet Inc’s Google.
In Japan and Taiwan, carriers stopped taking early orders for newer smartphone
models.
In Mexico, carriers have yet to take any action. But a local restaurant, Taqueria Tachitos, sees a marketing opportunity amid the anxiety. Customers who bring in a Huawei device will get a free order of tacos al pastor (with a minimum order of 60 pesos). “We understand your pain,” the restaurant said on Facebook, alongside an image of two people hugging.