The US-China trade war affected Chinese company Huawei the most. Now, the White House economic adviser Larry Kudlow will reportedly host a meeting with American semiconductor and software executives to discuss the ban.
What is Kudlow planning?
American tech executives will meet Kudlow on Monday and discuss the US’ ban on sales to the company. According to two sources with knowledge of the meeting, Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin will also be in attendance during the White House meeting. They said that Qualcomm Inc. and Intel Corp. will be attending the meeting. Other companies that may expect invitations are Microsoft and Broadcom.
A White House official confirmed that a meeting is taking place but said that they have called Micron and Google to discuss economic matters. The official said that Huawei’s topic can be discussed “but that it is not the reason why they are convening the meeting.”
Why is a quick decision important?
Huawei is the no. 1 manufacturer of telecommunications equipment in the world but the Trump administration has blacklisted the company. The government cited reasons for national security to call for the ban. US companies were prohibited from selling US parts and components to Huawei without receiving special licenses. Following the issues, Google decided to limit the use of its Android OS on Huawei mobile devices while Facebook said that its apps will not come preloaded on Huawei systems.
However, after some tough talks and worldwide concerns about an impending full-fledged trade war, Trump is trying to reinitiate talks with Beijing. Last month, he also said that American companies can resume their sales to Huawei. The future of the talks remains uncertain because of which the situation has ended up in inertia. Note that even after the announcement, the White House has not given any new policy or details about their stance on the company.
Commerce Department Secretary Wilbur Ross said that they will issue licenses in cases where there is no threat to national security. Reuters reported earlier that the US may soon start approving licenses for companies to start new sales. However, a final and concrete policy is still missing.
Both Qualcomm and Intel have declined to comment on the meeting. On the other hand, Broadcom, Google, Microsoft, and Micron have not made any public comments about the matter. If the meeting leads to a decision on the Huawei matter positively, then US-China trade talks may begin on a better note.
