Could this be the sign of an appeasement of relations between the United States and Huawei? According to the agency Reuters, the country of Uncle Sam has authorized OEMs to sell their automotive components for several hundred million dollars to the Chinese giant of telecoms and smartphones. This is not nothing: for more than two years, Huawei has had to deal with very restrictive American sanctions, which prohibit it from obtaining supplies of “made in the USA” technologies.
Under the presidency of Donald Trump, the United States decided to make life difficult for the Shenzhen group, which they accuse of spying on behalf of Beijing. In particular, they decided to drive out the telecoms equipment manufacturer, leader in 5G, from the strategic American mobile market. The coming to power of Joe Biden had not, until then, changed the American position with regard to the Chinese group.
An American policy that remains firm
Concretely, according to sources close to the file consulted by Reuters, the United States has granted licenses in recent months allowing component suppliers working in video displays and vehicle sensors to offer their services to Huawei. The press agency specifies that the file is undoubtedly less sensitive than those concerning telecom equipment, automotive chips generally being of less complexity …
Either way, the United States has no plans at all, for the moment, to lift its sanctions against Huawei. This is what a spokesperson for the US Department of Commerce said. According to him, Washington continues to firmly apply its policy of “To restrict Huawei’s access to commodities, software or technology for activities that could harm national security and foreign policy interests” from the country.
Automotive, a strategic segment
This does not prevent the United States from allowing Huawei to develop in the intelligent and autonomous car. However, this segment has become strategic for the Shenzhen group. It does not want to be satisfied with providing 5G equipment and antennas to telecom operators. It wants to grow its “Business” branch, which aims to offer a whole range of digital services in different sectors, including automotive, energy and even ports. Today, this “Business” segment represents only 11% of the group’s revenues (the equivalent of 13 billion euros), but must assert itself as one of the main sources of growth in the years to come.
In the automotive industry, Huawei is already considered a major player. Last July, during the Mobile World Congress in Barcelona, the manufacturer notably announced the signing of a large contract with Volkswagen. This is a license agreement that will allow the German group to use its 4G technologies in its connected vehicles.
