Huawei Still in Crosshairs in US - China Trade War

China threatened retaliation against prominent companies, after the US moved to close a loophole enabling Huawei to continue using chips made using American technology. More than a year after adding Huawei to a trade blacklist, the US Department of Commerce clamped down on the company accessing components made overseas which featured US-made software and technology.

Huawei rotating chairman Guo Ping acknowledged difficulty in winning global contracts since being added to a US trade blacklist, with a $12 billion gap in 2019 revenue compared with its target. The company focused on fixing the holes in its operation and boosted R&D spending by 30%.

“If the US government persists in attacking Huawei, what will that bring to the world?“, Guo said during the company's annual event. He explained Huawei is studying and evaluating the latest move, but noted uncertainty around this and other matters made it impossible to provide a financial forecast for 2020.

Huawei said in a statement it categorically opposes the amendments which it believes specifically target it. The vendor said the US government had engaged in a relentless pursuit to tighten its stranglehold on the company, but in its latest action had decided to proceed and completely ignore the concerns of many companies and industry associations.

“This decision was arbitrary and pernicious, and threatens to undermine the entire industry worldwide,“ the company said in a statement. Huawei unveiled it is undertaking a comprehensive examination of the new rule and expects its business will inevitably be affected. Chief of Huawei's consumer business group Richard Yu was direct in condemning US actions. “The so-called cybersecurity reasons are merely an excuse. The key is the threat to the technology hegemony of the U.S. posed by Huawei,“ he said.

Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company (TSMC) reportedly yielded to US pressure by halting new chip orders from Huawei. A source told Nikkei Asian Review current and pending orders TSMC booked before the latest block won’t be affected as long as they are shipped within a 120-day timeframe set by the US DoC.