A bill signed by President Trump now officially prevents the U. S. Government and anyone associated directly with it from using tech made by select Chinese firms, which includes Huawei and ZTE.
President Trump has signed a bill into law – as part of the broader Defense Authorization Act – banning U. S. Government agencies from using tech designed or manufactured by a number of Chinese firms, including Huawei and ZTE.
For those following this particular string of escalating sanctions from the U. S. Government against these companies over the past couple months, you’d know this has been a long time coming, despite these firms’ efforts to prevent the ban from happening. Democrats and Republicans alike viewed them as security threats and pushed forward with this bill despite the latter’s initial attempt to re-impose sanctions on them instead of an outright trade ban.
Moreover, the bill explicitly states that the ban would be on any “substantial or essential component of any system” along with any tech purposed to handle user data. This means that all Government agencies and any outside party that wish to do business with it or be associated with it in any form would have to have their equipment undergo extensive replacements. The bill does, however, make provisions to allocate funding to any party that needs to do so.
In an emailed statement to The Verge, Huawei said these measures were “ineffective, misguided, and unconstitutional”, calling this ban a “random addition” to the bill. It added that the bill failed to “identify real security risks or improve supply chain security”, and would simply serve to increase costs for consumers and businesses.
Huawei hasn’t made any indications that it, as of yet, wishes to challenge the law.
Source: The Verge
