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Huawei issue highlights a U.S. policy problem

Over the weekend in Japan, President Trump appeared to choose trade over national security when he suspended a ban on U.S. companies’ selling products to Huawei, in a bid to hasten a trade deal with China. (More on that below.)

That could be a huge relief for Huawei. The Chinese tech company had faced a future where supplies of chips and software for its products — from smartphones for consumers to networking gear for telcos — ran dry. (Until recently, the company had spent $11 billion with American companies.)

But the truce also underlines concerns about Washington’s tech strategy, Andrew writes in his latest column:

• If the ban were lifted entirely, it would galvanize Huawei’s role as perhaps the biggest long-term competitive threat to a significant American role in the next-generation wireless technology known as 5G.

• That serves as a reminder that the U.S. lacks a meaningful strategy to lead the world in 5G.

• “No American company makes the devices that transmit high-speed wireless signals. Huawei is the clear leader in the field; the Swedish company Ericsson is a distant second; and the Finnish company Nokia is third.”