With Trump gone, Huawei tells Biden it’s not a security threat

The Trump administration has spent the past two years waging war on Huawei, calling the company a national security risk due to its alleged ties to the Chinese government. An executive order banned companies (even international ones) from selling Huawei hardware or software containing American technology, and additional restrictions on trading with Huawei made it extremely difficult for the company to continue building network equipment and smartphones . The years have been difficult for Huawei, but now that the Biden administration is in charge, will things be any different?

As the Wall Street Journal reports, Huawei certainly seems to be sending feelers now that President Biden has taken up his seat. One of the tools used against Huawei was an FCC ruling last year that declared Huawei a national security threat and banned U.S. telecommunications companies from using government funding to purchase Huawei hardware. Huawei filed a lawsuit in the US 5th Circuit Court of Appeals to challenge the ruling, calling it “arbitrary, capricious and abusive of discretion, and not supported by substantial evidence.”

Xiaomi filed a similar complaint earlier this month after, in one of its last acts in office, the Trump administration declared Xiaomi a “Chinese Communist Military Company” and banned US citizens from owning Xiaomi shares. . Xiaomi called the decision “illegal and unconstitutional”. arguing that she denied the company due process.

The FCC has new leadership under Biden, but an FCC spokesperson told the Wall Street Journal that it would support the previous ruling against Huawei. “Last year, the FCC issued a final designation identifying Huawei as a national security threat based on a substantial body of evidence developed by the FCC and numerous US national security agencies,” the door said. spoke, adding, “We will continue to defend this decision.” The “substantial body of evidence” from the United States showing that Huawei’s spies for the Chinese government have never been made public.

The Biden administration is currently in the midst of a review of past Trump policies and does not appear to have come to a conclusion on Huawei yet. The Commerce Department is in charge of Huawei’s export ban, and while new secretary Gina Raimondo has said she will “protect Americans and our network from Chinese interference,” she has also refused to promise. to maintain the ban on Huawei until a review can be completed.

Huawei began wooing the Biden administration earlier this week when Huawei CEO Ren Zhengfei said he would “welcome” a phone call and open communication from the new president. “If Huawei’s production capacity can be expanded, it would also mean more opportunities for US companies to supply,” Ren told reporters. “I think this is going to be mutually beneficial. I believe that [the] the new administration would keep these business interests in mind when deciding its new policy. “