U.S. tech companies want licenses to work with Huawei, but Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross told the press getting those applications approved may take weeks. Even though Trump banned Huawei from buying and selling in the United States the giant Chinese tech company’s business is still strong.
The ban may cost Huawei $30 billion in lost revenue. But thanks to countries like Italy, North Korea, and Russia, Huawei is strong in the tech world. Those countries don’t care about the security issues Trump talks about when he mentions Huawei. Italy, Russia and other countries signed 5G contracts with Huawei, and that move leaves U.S. tech companies scrambling to capture 5G business outside of the U.S., according to the Washington Post.
Mr. Trump wants to devalue the U.S. dollar in order to compete in the world market. If the U.S. Treasury devalues the dollar, China and Europe will do the same thing. The Chinese lower their currency to help stop Chinese consumer pain, and the European Union will do the same thing if Trump wants to start a currency war, according to Bloomberg.
Trump claims China pays the tariffs. But American businesses feel the pain of the tariffs. Trump never mentions the disruption he caused in U.S. manufacturing supply chains. Some U.S. companies left China and moved to Vietnam and Mexico to avoid the tariffs, but those decisions hurt American consumers too. Starting a new manufacturing process in countries unfamiliar with the American way of doing business hurts deliveries, product quality, and dependability, according to the Washington Post.
Wilbur Ross, the embattled Commerce Secretary, tried to calm some tech companies down when he told the press Huawei license application approval may only be weeks away. But some tech companies think Trump wants to hold applications until he gets a trade deal. Mr. Trump uses Huawei as leverage over the Chinese, but that tactic hasn’t changed China’s position. They want Trump to lift the tariffs, and the Huawei ban before they sign any trade agreement.
But Bob Lighthizer and his team of U.S. negotiators are on their way back to Beijing to kick start trade talks. Mr. Trump still hasn’t ruled out imposing more tariffs on all Chinese products, and that threat keeps the Chinese away from the trade table.
According to Reuters, China still hasn’t agreed to sit down and hammer out a deal, but Trump keeps pushing China to talk even though he won’t agree to lower the tariffs and lift the ban on Huawei.
