The trade conflict between the United States and China has deepened. Late last night the United States decided to impose sanctions on Chinese tech company Huawei, one of the world’s leading manufacturers of smartphones. The ban includes Huawei and its affiliated companies and would prevent them from doing business with American businesses, which would make it more difficult for Huawei to use American software products, among other things. The government is citing security concerns for the decision, as they believe the Chinese government is using Huawei devices to gather intelligence from customers.
Huawei, on the other hand, has stated that they are ready to sit down with US representatives and discuss security policies, as they are willing to make their products comply with the American requirements. Huawei also said that their 5G products are cheaper and superior to the products made by other tech companies, implying that the ban will be bad for competition in the US. The Chinese government had a strong negative reaction to the American decision and said it would do anything in its power to ensure its products are not treated unfairly.
It is unclear whether there will be a trade agreement between China and the States at this point. US Treasury Secretary Steve Mnuchin said he is preparing to continue the negotiations in China, while Donald Trump also seemed optimistic in recent statements. However, with stricter tariffs against China as of last week and yesterday’s ban on Huawei, China might have grounds to withdraw from the talks.
