by N. Peter Kramer
While many countries like the UK are warned by US President Trump not to deal with Huawei about 5G, US businesses are concerned that tougher restrictions for the Chinese company to buy US-made components will have impact to domestic business.
The US Department of Commerce (DoC) has been looking at ways to further restrict Huawei since November 2019, exploring a rule which would increase its authority over exports to Huawei due to concerns among officials that key supply chain remained out of its reach.
Currently the US can block or require companies to obtain a license for the sale of products to Huawei where domestic components comprise 25 per cent or more of the finished goods. The DoC drafted rules to lower the 25 per cent to 10 per cent and include more non- technical goods to give it more authority.
However, the US Department of Defense (DoD) disagreed with the proposal, which led to the DOC temporarily pulling the plan out of a review process.
It seems that the DoD cited concerns from US businesses, which have argued increased regulation on sales to Huawei would unnecessarily hurt companies in the country and ultimately result in Huawei looking abroad for what they need. The US government will address the issue soon.
