If we briefly describe the situation with Huawei, we can say that the company was accused of espionage and cooperation with the Chinese military, but at the same time they did not give a single proof, believing that the White House should be taken at its word. Then we saw several rounds of sanctions that resulted in companies cutting off access to key components and technologies. And all in order to weaken it in the telecommunications market, both in terms of infrastructure equipment and smartphones.
There was hope that with the change of power in the White House; a warming would occur and aggressive actions against Huawei would be stopped. But this did not happen, the administration of John Biden adheres to the line of conduct towards the Chinese company, which was laid under Donald Trump. Moreover, they are ready for more aggressive actions against Huawei.
So, in an interview with Reuters, US Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo said that if necessary; they are ready to introduce a new round of sanctions. It states that Huawei poses a threat to national security for various reasons, and Washington is aggressively lobbying other countries not to use Huawei equipment on next-generation 5G networks. At the same time, Gina Raimondo did not directly answer the question about the possible harassment of Honor and its blacklisting.
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US authorities ready to expand sanctions against Huawei if necessary
The imposition of sanctions against Huawei Technologies by the United States took place in two stages even under President Trump since May 2019. In addition, the Chinese company ultimately lost access to the TSMC pipeline and many advanced components; lost leadership in the smartphone segment and faced difficulties in expanding 5G networks. The current US administration is ready to extend sanctions if required.
Also, US Secretary of Commerce Gina Raimondo admitted this in an interview with Reuters. She did not directly support the demands of the fourteen members of the lower house of the US Congress; to add to the sanctions list the smartphone manufacturer Honor; which inherited a significant part of the team and many business connections from Huawei. The authors of the initiative suspect Honor of acting in the interests of the disgraced Huawei Technologies; considering the sale of the business as a cover for such manipulations.
Back in January, at the stage of forming the new US government; Gina Raimondo expressed her readiness to be firm with Huawei and other geopolitical opponents. Huawei’s list is “a truly powerful tool in our arsenal that we will use to the fullest to defend American national security,” the US Secretary of Commerce said. She added that the list of export control restrictions continues to grow, with five new Chinese companies added in June. The US authorities suspected them of oppressing national minorities in Xinjiang.