U.S. President Donald Trump’s decision to allow U.S. firms to sell “high tech” products to Huawei led Asian investors to snap up shares in suppliers to the Chinese smartphone maker on Monday, even as some experts wondered what had changed.U.S. officials including Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin and White House economic adviser Larry Kudlow will host a meeting at the White House on Monday of semiconductor and software executives to discuss the U.S. ban on Huawei Technologies, two sources briefed on the meeting said on Friday.
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The United States placed Huawei on the Commerce Department’s so-called Entity List in May over national security concerns. U.S. parts and components generally cannot be sold to those on the list without special licenses. They announced late last month that U.S. companies would be allowed to sell products to Huawei.
The White House did not immediately comment on the meeting. Huawei was put on a U.S. list in May that restricts U.S. tech firms such as Alphabet Inc’s (GOOGL.O) Google from doing business with the Chinese telecom network gear maker, viewed as a security risk by Washington amid trade tensions with Beijing.
After saying for weeks that it has access to enough non-U.S. technology to carry on as usual, Huawei said last month it would take a $30 billion revenue hit.
“We acknowledge the U.S. president’s comments relating to Huawei and have no further comments at this time,” a Huawei spokesman told Reuters on Monday. Several U.S. companies stopped supplying Huawei in recent weeks, but quietly lobbied the U.S. government to ease the ban, Reuters reported last month. Memory-chip maker Micron (MU.O) said last week it had resumed some shipments to Huawei, and chip maker Intel (INTC.O) took similar action, according to the New York Times.
Google said last month it would not provide the Android operating system (OS) for Huawei phones after a temporary reprieve from the ban expired in August, but current models could still use the apps. Windsor said Huawei’s access to Google mobile products could remain blocked despite Trump’s remarks.
“It is fairly easy to argue that Google Mobile Services is unique and only available from the U.S. and potentially could be considered a security threat depending on what data is going over those services,” he said.
The sanctions also prevent U.S. telecom companies from buying network equipment from Huawei based on national security grounds. Huawei has denied its products pose a security threat.
CONCLUSION : “National security concerns will remain paramount,” National Economic Council chairman Larry Kudlow said on Sunday, adding that Trump’s decision to allow expanded sales of U.S. technology supplies to Huawei will leave the most sensitive equipment off limits.
