US politicians ask Biden to blacklist former Huawei subsidiary Honor
A group of American politicians wants the current
administration to extend the restrictions on Huawei to Honor, reports Reuters.
Chinese company Huawei was placed on a blacklist in 2019 by
then President Donald Trump on the grounds that it posed a national security
threat. This cut off Huawei's access to American technology, including chip
blueprints and Google's software and apps.
In November of last year, Huawei sold Honor to free the
sub-brand from the restriction imposed on it by the US. Honor targeted young,
budget-conscious consumers, and was quite popular in Europe. The company also
makes smartwatches and gaming laptops.
It appears that Huawei made the right call as companies that
had severed ties with Huawei and consequently its subsidiary Honor, have now
resumed relations with the latter. This includes the likes of Qualcomm, Google,
Microsoft, AMD, Intel, MediaTek, Samsung, and Sony.
Honor says it is rapidly regaining lost market share. The
company is now majorly owned by a Chinese government-backed consortium. George
Zhao, who was its president at Huawei, is now its chief executive and other Huawei
engineers and execs have allegedly also joined the company.
Honor is being viewed as a pawn of the Chinese government by
Republicans
Republican senators believe that Honor is also a threat to
national security and have asked the Biden government to blacklist it.
Florida senator Marco Rubio wrote a letter on Thursday that
labels Honor as an arm of the Chinese government that now enjoys unrestrained
access to vital US tech.
Huawei maintains its stance that it doesn't have any stake
in Honor.
This matter has been brewing for some time. In August, a
group of Republican Congressmen led by Michael McCaul asked the Commerce
Department to place Honor on a blacklist. They said that Huawei sold the
company to gain access to chips and software it's not legally allowed to buy.
As of September, key security agencies were divided on the
matter. Apparently, the Pentagon and Energy Department support placing Honor on
a blacklist, but the Commerce Department and State Department don't. The issue
is in the hands of the political-appointee level at the four agencies at the
moment reportedly, and if there is a deadlock, it will be forwarded to the
Cabinet. If that also results in a stalemate, President Biden would make the
decision.
The implications of the decision would also fall to US
companies. Before it was placed on the entity list, Huawei was amongst the top smartphone
brands of the world and many of its suppliers were US-based. A lot of them lost
sales because of the ban and requested the Trump government to ease the rules.
The US mostly views Huawei's network equipment, and not its
smartphones, as a security threat. By that logic, Honor doesn't really sound
like a threat. The company is currently gearing up for the international launch
of the Honor 50, which on paper looks like a decent mid-tier phone.
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