Since early this year, Huawei and Trump have been waging war against one another. The U.S had placed a ban on Huawei and forbade the company from involving in any trade activities with American companies. Google followed suit and barred Huawei from having access to Google services. This was soon followed by an extension of 90 days allowing Huawei to procure material from U.S suppliers.
The Commerce Department has now replaced the date of November 18, 2019, with February 16, 2020. We are not sure whether the ban will be enforced next year or Huawei will get themselves yet another extension. In the interim, Huawei can continue dealing with U.S companies and purchasing certain components. The extension also means that Huawei will be able to update their existing smartphone lineup with software updates. This is the second time Huawei has been granted a 90-day reprieve. Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross said the previous extension was aimed at supporting rural companies that rely on Huawei. That apart, the constant tug of war between Huawei and Trump administration is likely to help them with negotiations in the ongoing trade war. Huawei is the world’s second-largest smartphone manufacturer. If banned, it is going to have a massive blow to its international smartphone business. In China, Huawei does not sell its smartphones with Google Play suite of apps and services so the ban is not going to have that big of an impact in its home market. Nonetheless, this issue still looms large and if imposed, it is likely to cause damage to all the stakeholders.
