Last week Donald Trump’s administration further upset the Sino-American trade talks by announcing a ban on Huawei and its affiliates regarding the usage of American components in their devices. The United States are also trying to ensure that Huawei’s next generation 5G devices will not have widespread popularity in the US, citing security concerns. According to the US government, Huawei is collecting data from its users which is shared with the Chinese government, which poses a security risk.
Today, however, the US announced that Huawei will be temporarily allowed to continue its business as usual in order to support the devices that are already in use in order to protect the interests of customers who are already using Huawei products. Reportedly this will also allow big companies that are reliant on Huawei (since the company makes much more than smartphones) enough time to look for alternatives and transition smoothly.
Huawei has been vocal in their criticism of the ban and has stated that they are ready to comply with any security requirements the United States might demand of them. Regarding the temporary reprieve from the ban, Huawei said it did not mean much, since they are capable of manufacturing everything even without American help.
The current exemptions will be in place for 90 days, until around mid-August.