The US government takes further restrictive measures against Huawei. The election of Joe Biden as president of the United States will not have changed the situation for the manufacturer. His administration informed certain Huawei suppliers on March 11 of the tightening of the conditions for obtaining licenses authorizing them to do business with the Chinese company. Components used for or with 5G devices can no longer be sold, reports Bloomberg. This new measure takes effect this week.
Concretely, a more explicit ban has been adopted on the export of components such as semiconductors, antennas and batteries used in Huawei’s 5G devices. Some companies have previously obtained licenses to market products used in 5G hardware while others have not. Companies complained about the lack of clarity of the rules. Hence this new measure which standardizes the prohibitions on trading with Huawei.
Continuation of the policy led by Donald Trump
This action shows that for the moment the Biden administration intends to follow the line put in place by the previous government. Huawei is considered a threat to national security, as is ByteDance’s TikTok app or the Tencent company. Huawei has been placed on a list requiring U.S. companies to get government approval before they can do business with it. This rule was then extended to companies, not American but using patents or equipment from American companies.
Last January, reports Reuters, the Trump administration has refused more than 116 licenses that could have fetched $ 119 billion and approved just four licenses for more than $ 20 billion. The changes adopted by the new administration could call into question the existing contracts concluded with Huawei under the previous license conditions.
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