The Trump administration imposed a ban on Huawei in the heart of their trade war with China, and that is not going down well with a lot of quarters. As of right now, it seems the chipmakers based out of US are the ones appealing ease on the ban.
According to reports, all of Qualcomm, Intel and Xilinx have gone ahead to lobby with the US Department of Commerce to see if anything can be done at all. While the companies do not disagree with the fact that Huawei’s 5G capabilities could help them spy for the Chinese government, they also believe that the company uses a lot of commonly sourced parts for that to happen at all.
Looking at this scenario, care should be taken not to think that the companies are taking on Huawei as a pro bono case. Far from it.
Of the $70 billion Huawei spent on chips and components last year, they directed $11 billion to American companies alone. Should this kind of money leave the accounts of these chipmakers, they stand to lose a lot.
Given how much this will affect both sides, it is worth hoping that the US will look into the matter again and make something work.
