Trump Regime Blacklists Chinese Tech Giant Huawei

by Stephen Lendman (stephenlendman.org - Home - Stephen Lendman)

Instead of seeking accommodation with China on trade and related issues, the Trump regime is heading for a full-blown war on the country by other means — risking direct confrontation at the same time over irreconcilable issues of its own making.

Trump's geopolitical ignorance, his unacceptable MAGA bravado, along with relying on advice from hardline extremists surrounding him, make enemies and alienate allies.

Bullying China, Russia, Iran, Venezuela, and Cuba to bend to Washington's will is a strategy doomed to fail, benefitting no one, risking big trouble.

In response to the US heading for full-blown trade war with Beijing, its official newspaper, the People's Daily, hit back hard.

Accusing the Trump regime of "ignor(ing) the rules and behaving unreasonably," the broadsheet slammed its "unreasonable bully tactics."

Trump regime hardliners initiated trade war in March 2018, not China. Instead of seeking resolution through dialogue and compromise to reach agreement equitable to both countries, US "arbitrariness and irrationality…escalated" things.

Its unacceptable actions "cast a (long) shadow" over bilateral relations. US bullying tactics won't work with China. Going this way makes things worse.

The Trump regime "underestimates the will and determination of the Chinese people to defend the country's core interests," the broadsheet stressed, adding: "Cooperation is the only suitable path for both sides" — a strategy US hardliners reject.

Blacklisting tech giant Huawei and its 70 affiliates from the US market on the phony pretext of preventing the company from "potentially undermin(ing) US national security" is the latest shoe to drop, escalating things more than already.

Placing the company and its affiliates on a so-called Entity List prohibits it from buying parts and components from US companies without Washington's approval.

The action shuts the company out of the US market, making it hard for it to sell some of its products that rely on what's bought from US suppliers.

A US Commerce Department announcement said the following:

The department's Bureau of Industry and Security (BIS) added Huawei and its affiliates to its Entity List.

"This action stems from information available to the Department that provides a reasonable basis to conclude that Huawei is engaged in activities that are contrary to US national security or foreign policy interest (sic)," adding:

"This information includes the activities alleged in the Department of Justice's public superseding indictment of Huawei, including alleged violations of the International Emergency Economic Powers Act (IEEPA) (sic), conspiracy to violate IEEPA by providing prohibited financial services to Iran (sic), and obstruction of justice in connection with the investigation of those alleged violations of US sanctions (sic)."

Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross said Trump backs the action taken. It's all about wanting US telecom companies to have an unfair leg up on foreign competition, especially from China.

Huawei is leading the race to roll out 5G technology in Western and world markets. At stake are trillions of dollars of economic value, why the company is targeted.

The Trump regime wants imports of Chinese tech products restricted or blocked. Falsely claiming equipment produced by Huawei and ZTE can be used to spy on US government and private entities is cover for wanting to prevent them from being major players in world markets at the expense of US companies.

The US and China are competing for which country will be the leader in 5G technology that'll define the next generation of mobile Internet use.

It's much more than high speed, the technology touted as what will support the next generation of Internet-connected devices infrastructure to smart cities and driverless cars.

China aims to be a global technological leader. Washington's aim to prevent it from matching or overtaking US firms lies at the heart of economic differences between both countries — the US trade deficit with China a minor issue by comparison, distracting from the main one.

According to London-based global information provider IHS Markit, at stake is over $12 trillion of global economic output by 2035.

The escalating US trade dispute with China is all about the country on a path toward becoming a dominant economic, financial, industrial, and technological powerhouse, matching or exceeding the US, what the Trump regime is going all out to prevent.

On Wednesday, DJT declared a national emergency by executive order over alleged threats to US technology. 

He invoked the International Emergency Economic Powers Act, giving the president authority to regulate commerce in response to alleged threatening emergency conditions.

According to White House press secretary Sarah Sanders:

The order "protect(s) America from foreign adversaries who are actively and increasingly creating and exploiting vulnerabilities in information and communications technology infrastructure and services in the United States (sic)."

Huawei responded saying: "Restricting (the company) from doing business in the US will not make the US more secure or stronger." i

"(I(nstead, this will only serve to limit the US to inferior yet more expensive alternatives, leaving the US lagging behind in 5G deployment, and eventually harming the interests of US companies and consumers."

"We are ready and willing to engage with the US government and come up with effective measures to ensure product security." 

The Trump regime has been pressuring, bullying, and threatening other countries not to adopt Huawei's 5G technology.

Beijing's Foreign Ministry spokesman Geng Shuang responded to Trump's order, saying it's directed against "specific Chinese companies," calling it "disgraceful and unjust," adding:

"We urge the US side to stop oppressing Chinese companies under the pretext of security concerns and provide a fair, just and non-discriminatory environment for their normal investment and operation."

According to the Eurasia Group, the latest Trump regime action is "a grave escalation with China that at minimum plunges the prospect of continued trade negotiations into doubt," adding: 

"Unless handled carefully, this situation is likely to place US and Chinese companies at new risk."

Beijing will surely react strongly to this latest action, making it all the harder to resolve major differences between both countries.

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