Earlier this month, the Trump administration added Huawei to a trade blacklist over national security concerns, effectively forbidding U.S. companies from doing business with the Chinese smartphone and telecom giant.



As the U.S.-China trade war continues to escalate, it has been suggested that China could retaliate to the Huawei ban by enforcing a similar ban on a large American company like Apple. However, even Huawei's own founder Ren Zhengfei admitted that he would oppose such a move, offering praise for the iPhone maker.

Speaking through a translator, Ren told Bloomberg that Apple is both the "world's leading company" and his "teacher":

That will not happen, first of all. And second of all, if that happens, I'll be the first to protest. Apple is the world's leading company. If there was no Apple, there would be no mobile internet. If there was no Apple to help show us the world, we would not see the beauty of this world. Apple is my teacher — it's advancing in front of us. As a student, why should I oppose my teacher? I would never do that.

Last week, investment firm Goldman Sachs warned that Apple's per-share earnings could take a 29 percent hit if China stops importing its products.

Ren appeared confident that Huawei can prevail despite the U.S. trade ban, suggesting that the company will ramp up its in-house technologies if necessary. Huawei already designs its own Kirin processors for some smartphones, but that relies on ARM, which severed ties with Huawei after the U.S. trade ban.