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Huawei To Back Off US Market Amid Rising Tensions (nytimes.com)

Posted by BeauHD on from the reverse-course dept.

Huawei is reportedly going to give up on selling its products and services in the United States (Warning: source may be paywalled; alternative source) due to Washington's accusations that the company has ties to the Chinese government. The change in tactics comes a week after the company laid off five American employees, including its biggest American lobbyist. The New York Times reports: Huawei's tactics are changing as its business prospects in the United States have darkened considerably. On Tuesday, the Federal Communications Commission voted to proceed with a new rule that could effectively kill off what little business the company has in the United States. Although the proposed rule does not mention Huawei by name, it would block federally subsidized telecommunications carriers from using suppliers deemed to pose a risk to American national security. Huawei's latest moves suggest that it has accepted that its political battles in the United States are not ones it is likely to win. "Some things cannot change their course according to our wishes," Eric Xu, Huawei's deputy chairman, said at the company's annual meeting with analysts on Tuesday. "With some things, when you let them go, you actually feel more at ease."

14 of 91 comments (clear)

  1. Yeah... by Parker+Lewis · · Score: 4, Interesting

    "suppliers deemed to pose a risk to American national security" == "suppliers do not accept to sell products with NSA backdoors"

    1. Re:Yeah... by AmiMoJo · · Score: 3, Insightful

      Seems very bad for trade too. There are two ways to address the trade imbalance with China: reduce overall trade until both sides are down to the same level, or build up US exports to match Chinese imports. It seems like, as usual, this trade war is pushing for the first option.

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    2. Re:Yeah... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Interesting

      I don't think Huawei would have let this go so easily if that were the reason. They'd either have inserted the backdoor like presumably the other suppliers, or they'd have let the public know that the NSA wanted them to insert a backdoor into their products but that they refused to do so. I think it's more likely that some of Huawei's products contain PRC backdoors and that they aren't prepared (or legally able) to remove them.

    3. Re:Yeah... by sg_oneill · · Score: 5, Insightful

      "suppliers deemed to pose a risk to American national security" == "suppliers do not accept to sell products with NSA backdoors"

      Huwai and the Chinese govt probably couldnt give a damn about the NSA spying on american citizens anymore than the american govt caring about china spying on chinese citizens. Its only when it crosses the border do govts get anxious.

      None of the actors here actually give one knob of goatshit about our rights.

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    4. Re:Yeah... by sinij · · Score: 2, Insightful

      More trade is not always automatically better. For example, China due to ability to centrally plan, lax labor standards, nonexistent environmental regulations, can produce trade goods at a loss for decades. At that point our own capacity to produce similar goods is lost and we become a captive market dominated by foreign state-aligned monopoly.

    5. Re:Yeah... by ooloorie · · Score: 2

      In any case, the EU certainly protects consumers a lot more than the US.

      Translation: "The EU has a lot of trade barriers."

      That's one of the major reasons why US companies find it so hard to sell stuff here, and the same in Japan where they can't meet the automotive emissions standards, for example.

      US standards are much stricter when it comes to NOx and particulates (the stuff that you need to protect consumers from), while being less strict when it comes to carbon emissions (irrelevant to consumer protection). That's why we had Dieselgate.

      The EU authoritarian? Okay buddy.

      Yes, "buddy", it's why I left the EU and came to the US.

  2. So no more Cisco gear? by drinkypoo · · Score: 3, Insightful

    Although the proposed rule does not mention Huawei by name, it would block federally subsidized telecommunications carriers from using suppliers deemed to pose a risk to American national security.

    Oh yeah? So that means they're going to stop buying equipment from Cisco, right?

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  3. paywalled by Reverend+Green · · Score: 5, Insightful

    Please stop posting paywalled links. No one here wants to read them. No one here wants paywalled sites to get any traffic.

  4. Re:In completely unrelated news by Freischutz · · Score: 3, Insightful

    Apple's stock goes up on their ability to be complacent. Tim Cook announces another great leap in innovation by Apple since Jobs' passing. The next iPhone is going have more RAM and a slightly different camera!!!!

    And Apple's political contributions just went up. Again.

    WTF, does any of this have to do with Apple?

  5. Re:It's not surprising that they'd give up by Freischutz · · Score: 2

    Huawei's market share in the US is microscopic at best. Most carriers don't offer their products and Congress has recommended against working with them for years. With the FTC looking to block subsidized carriers from working with them, the US market simply isn't worth the effort and expense anymore.

    Who cares about 'facts' when this plays well with the base. Just like those steel tariffs the White House justified by citing Chinese steel dumping, China accounts for 2.9 percent of US steel imports, ... but who cares about 'facts', tariffs on China play well with the base. I don't think US politicos, and particularly the ones in charge at the moment, really think much beyond what will 'play well with the base'.

  6. Re:It's not surprising that they'd give up by JackieBrown · · Score: 4, Insightful

    Just like those steel tariffs the White House justified by citing Chinese steel dumping, China accounts for 2.9 percent of US steel imports, ... but who cares about 'facts', tariffs on China play well with the base

    Then why would this result in a trade war if it doesn't actually effect anything?

  7. Americans had better get used to paying more. by Computershack · · Score: 2, Insightful

    As more and more companies in China decide its no longer worth selling into the US market that means a lot of cheap consumer gear is going to disappear. Component manufacturers may follow suit. I think the American public is going to be in for a rude awakening about just how much of what they buy comes from China.

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    1. Re:Americans had better get used to paying more. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 2, Interesting

      I think the American public is going to be in for a rude awakening about just how much of what they buy comes from China.

      Taiwan, South Korea, Malaysia, and The Philippines have got us covered.

    2. Re:Americans had better get used to paying more. by WindBourne · · Score: 2

      No, most Americans are well aware of how much garbage comes from china. CHina has worked hard to kill off electronic, led, solar, EV, etc manufacturing in the west. That includes in Europe. The best thing that can happen is that CHina either start playing by WTO rules, OR we bring back manufacturing, with lots of automation, to the west.

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