The tit-for-tat between Congress and Huawei may hinge on whether the Chinese networking giant's gear gives Chinese spies a backdoor into the U.S. But in a campaign season when bad-mouthing China works as a universal applause line, politicians may have something greater to fear: the specter of a Chinese company hungry for growth triumphing on U.S. soil.

Huawei grew from a small importer of Hong Kong telephone equipment in the 1980s to a telecom-networking giant with sales of more than $32 billion last year. The company has succeeded due to big investments in research and development, its strategy of pursuing emerging markets, and its consistent ability to undersell its competitors. (Critics charge the company's ties to the Chinese government, the Communist Party, and the People's Liberation Army also helped.)

Recently, Huawei has started to become recognized in the U.S. for its cheap Android smartphones that have already captured a big share of that market in other parts of the world. But would Huawei really have a chance of breaking into the U.S. marketplace, even without congressional opposition? Or is the company's contention that U.S. politicians are playing at protectionism just a self-serving attempt to divert attention from the cloud of suspicion the company can't seem to shake?

Huawei, a private company, has seen its pace of growth slacken recently, says Kathie Hackler, an analyst with the research firm Gartner who covers telecom equipment makers. After big successes in Africa, Latin America, and the Asia Pacific region, Huawei needs to find more room to expand. The U.S. holds obvious appeal, and Hackler says the company has the strength to make a push.

"They bring a good financial position. They can create products. They've got a huge R&D capability. So they could be strong competitors," she says.

Two players, Alcatel-Lucent and Ericsson, currently dominate the hot U.S. market for mobile infrastructure. To break in, Hackler says Huawei cannot count on cheaper prices alone but will work to put the senior-level employees and services in place to make itself a viable presence in this country.

Huawei seems to have the will and could soon have the way to inundate the U.S. telecom landscape with Chinese gear, a politically unpalatable vision for candidates this fall regardless of the truth of Congress' allegations. Still, to say that politicians in this case are erecting underhanded trade barriers in the name of cybersecurity skirts one of the plainest truths of the U.S. economy. Chinese-made electronics long ago swept across this country in a great sea of circuitry. If Congress were really just out to close the gate to China, they'd have to tear the iPhones from the hands of constituents nationwide. And nothing says political suicide like losing the Apple vote.