UPDATED 20:29 EST / JUNE 09 2019

POLICY

White House budget chief asks for a delay on Huawei product ban

The White House’s budget chief has written to U.S. Vice President Mike Pence and nine other members of Congress asking for a delay on restrictions against China’s Huawei Technologies Co. Ltd.’s products.

Reuters reported today that Russell Vought, chief deputy director of the Office of Management and Budget, sent his letter last Tuesday, requesting that some of the restrictions placed on Huawei sales be delayed for two more years to “ensure the effective implementation of the prohibition without compromising desired security objectives.”

The restrictions on Huawei’s technology are included in the Pentagon’s 2020 spending bill, which was signed into law last year. That bill prevents federal agencies and contractors from using government money to buy the Chinese firm’s products on perceived “national security” concerns. It’s separate from U.S. President Donald Trump’s more recent executive order, which prevents U.S. companies from doing business with the firm.

A spokesperson for Pence declined to comment on Reuters’ report. Huawei, which is the world’s largest supplier of telecommunications equipment, denies that it’s controlled by the Chinese government or its military and intelligence services.

Reuters said Vought’s letter warns that the proposed timetable for the restrictions on buying Huawei’s equipment would lead to a “dramatic reduction” in the number of contractors that can do business with the U.S. government. As a result, any government agencies could struggle to find suppliers for essential technology they need, the letter says.

To prevent that, Vought proposes that any restrictions on purchasing its products should begin in four years’ time, rather than two years as the bill currently stipulates. The delay is necessary to give the government “additional time to think through the associated potential impacts and possible solutions,” according to the letter. Vought also suggested public forums for suppliers are held to raise concerns about issues created by the restrictions.

Vought isn’t alone in opposing the Trump administration’s increasingly tough stance on Huawei. Just last week, Google LLC was said to have lobbied the government for an exemption on the ban on doing business with Huawei. Google’s concerns have to do with its Android operating system. The ban prevents it from sharing future updates of its smartphone software with Huawei.

Google argued that if Huawei loses access to future versions of Android, it would be forced to push out operating system updates on its own. Google reportedly told the Commerce Department that a Huawei-maintained version of Android would contain more bugs than the original and consequently be more vulnerable to hacking.

The Android provider is said to be seeking either a complete waiver from the ban or an extension to the 90-day reprieve that was recently issued by the Commerce Department, but its efforts are unlikely to succeed. That’s because Huawei has a practically nonexistent presence in the U.S. handset market, which means that U.S. consumers wouldn’t be noticeably affected if the company loses access to Android updates.

In related news this weekend, Reuters reported that China’s government summoned representatives of several foreign technology firms for talks relating to the U.S. ban on doing business with Huawei. An unnamed employee of Microsoft Corp. told Reuters that Chinese officials made clear at the meeting that there would be “further complications” for it and other firms that comply with the U.S. ban.

The meeting came after Beijing’s government hinted last week that it could publish its own list of “unreliable” foreign companies. China is also reportedly considering a ban on the supply of rare earth materials, which are essential components of many technology products, to the U.S.

Photo: Open Grid Scheduler/Grid Engine/Flickr

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