The US President Donald Trump signed an executive order, On 16 May 2019, declaring a national emergency, announcing the ban of Huawei.

His initial reason? Security risks. But is this really the case? What’s the truth behind the Huawei ban?

Huawei may be best known for making phones, especially their latest P30 Pro that can zoom to the moon. Huawei was founded by Ren Zhengfei, selling telephone switches produced by another company in Hong Kong.

In the 1990s, Huawei started its own research and eventually developed its own products, beginning its expansion worldwide.

Today, Huawei is the second largest smartphone company, and one of the largest suppliers of telecoms equipment, making it the leading player in building the 5G infrastructure.

Huawei claims to have the most advanced 5G equipment and plans to usher in the new 5G revolution.

But in 2018, multiple US intelligence agencies made a case against Huawei, concerned about allowing a company inside their telecommunications network from a foreign government, as it gives them the ability to modify or steal information.

The US is trying to prevent Huawei, a Chinese company, from building the next telecom infrastructure, as it could allow the China government to spy on sensitive information, or even switch off their flow of data.

Huawei has denied any espionage and said doing so is suicidal, especially if they want to be a global company. While there’s no public evidence of espionage, Huawei’s own supply chain may have vulnerabilities. A supplier could modify hardware without Huawei’s knowledge, allowing it to later hack a network.

But there’s another reason that could be more important. [Play clip] The US-China trade war.

The on-going trade war is the US trying to maintain its number one position as the world’s largest economy and superpower, and it’s negotiating with China to make deals that are more beneficial to the US.

In fact, the US President even said that it’s possible for Huawei to be included in a trade deal.

So whether Huawei is a security risk, the US wants to use Huawei as leverage to get a better trade deal with China.

Another big deal about Huawei is their 5G technology and the economic incentives that it will bring.

When the US won the 4G race this decade, it gave rise to companies like Uber, YouTube, and other tech giants, providing a nearly 100 billion boost to their GDP.

And if the US wins the 5G race as well, it will add another 500 billion to their GDP, while creating 3 million jobs, And over a trillion dollars in economic benefits from industry growth in self-driving cars, automated factories, smart cities and more.

This significance of 5G could be why Donald Trump is asking allies not to use Huawei, and banning US companies from working with Huawei, including Google, Qualcomm, Microsoft and Intel, essentially removing Huawei’s android and windows operating systems and processor chips.

Huawei’s Mobile, Laptop, and telecom supply chain could be heavily affected, drastically reducing its consumer business. This could affect Huawei’s 5G plans from realizing even in countries that welcome Huawei.

China wants to be the leader in deploying 5G around the world due to its technological significance, and losing the 5G race will affect China’s rising political, economic, and military dominance in the world.

So the Huawei ban is likely part of the larger US-China trade war and is US’s attempt to remain as the global superpower.

As Trump continues to impose tariffs on more countries like Mexico and India, will China start getting more allies and become the new Superpower?

Sources:

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