Sanctions against Huawei have been announced by the US government that only low-tech products that do not affect security can be exported, and that semiconductors can be sold to Huawei as long as it is less than $1 billion this year. Officials said that the easing of sanctions was the result of lobbying activities by chipset makers in the United States.
In May, President Trump signed a presidential decree banning the transaction of foreign products that pose a risk of information and communication, and Google, which provides operating systems for Huawei smartphones, and Intel and Qualcomm, which supply components such as chipsets, announced the suspension of transactions with Huawei. I have a bar. In addition, although temporary, various industries at home and abroad were affected by the Presidential Decree, such as the world’s largest academic society announcing the ban on thesis review by Huawei scientists. But on July 2nd, White House Trade Adviser Peter Navarro said to Huawei that exports were only allowed for low-tech products that do not affect security. Although limited, sanctions were eased.
According to foreign media reports, such sanctions eased by lobbying US chip makers. The U.S. semiconductor industry has continued to insist through meetings and letters to the U.S. Department of Commerce about how sanctions adversely affect the U.S. economy and lead to national crises. do.
The semiconductor industry organization SIA (Semiconductor Industry Association) represents companies such as Intel, Broadcom, and Qualcomm. According to reports, in May, a representative of the chip maker held a meeting with the US Department of Commerce and said that listing Huawei on the list of companies subject to export bans would jeopardize the US. The trade war centered on Huawei put US chip makers in a difficult situation. China is the largest market, accounting for a third of all chip makers’ sales. The SIA emphasized that not all exports to Huawei and related companies are at risk to security, and that Huawei itself may be supplemented by companies outside the United States. Chips are expensive, research and development is being done, and if profits turn into losses, the US competitiveness itself is likely to be compromised.
SIA said that excessively broad regulations not only make it difficult for US semiconductor companies to do business around the world, but also change the image of US companies as risky and unreliable, and that the impact will have on national security. According to a person involved in the negotiations, chip industry officials argued that if they could look into the software that integrates the chips into the device with the support of engineers, they could bring down Huawei products even while the chips were being exported. It can be seen that what the industry group asked for was to limit the scope of the sanctions, not the end.
Shortly after meetings with President Xi Jinping on June 29 to see if these lobbying activities were effective, President Trump announced his intention to approve some of Huawei’s transactions to US companies. Later, on July 2, Huawei’s participation in the 5G network said that there were still national security concerns, but he explained that if China responds to trade negotiations, there is no problem with selling small amounts of low-level chips. Of course, the direction of the Trump regime is still unknown. President Trump said he will make decisions about what to do with Huawei when the trade negotiations are in the final stage. Related information can be found here .