How some tech companies are continuing to sell to Huawei | TECH(feed)

Hey everyone welcome back to tech feed i’m juliet beauchamp. I’ve got an update for you about the huawei ban--and how some american tech companies are using loopholes to continue to sell to huawei. Stick around.

There’s been a lot of uncertainty surrounding the ban that bars business transactions between u-s companies and chinese tech giant huawei. The commerce department granted american companies a 90-day reprieve, which means they can continue to work on current huawei products until mid-august. But the new york times reports that some u-s chip makers have found a loophole of sorts in the ban.

Chip makers such as intel and micron have continued to sell to huawei, as long as the parts they’re sending the company aren’t american-made. Yes, not all products manufactured abroad by american companies are branded as american-made. As long as the chips don’t pose security risks and companies don’t offer troubleshooting or support, they should be okay to sell to huawei. This could be in direct conflict with the ban--the wireless and memory chips supplied by these companies could possibly be used in future huawei devices, not current ones. While it’s not clear how much of the sold goods are for future huawei products, government officials aren’t happy.

The huawei ban has caused a lot of confusion for a lot of american companies. Much of huawei’s supply chain comes from tech made by u-s based enterprises. And immediately following the issuing of the ban, most of the american companies cut off business with huawei in an effort to comply with the government. Upon further inspection and the temporary reprieve, tech companies began to work more with huawei. And for good reason--plenty of these companies fear that huawei will simply turn to competitors if the u-s ban is upheld.

So where does this loophole leave intel and micron? Well, for the time being, they’ll probably carry on doing what they’ve been doing--selling chips that aren’t labelled as “american-made” to huawei. This whole ban has the potential to seriously disrupt many supply chains--especially if tech companies have no choice but to comply with the united states. But i don’t want to speak too soon--a lot about the ban could change if the united states and china reach some sort of trade agreement during the g-20 summit this weekend.

Thanks for watching this episode of tech feed. If you liked this video be sure to give it a thumbs up and subscribe to our channel. If anything about the ban changes after this weekend--and i have a feeling it will--we’ll keep you updated. See you next time.