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US chipmakers quietly lobby to ease Huawei ban: sources

News Service
11:45 - 17/06/2019 Monday
Update: 11:46 - 17/06/2019 Monday
REUTERS
File photo: A Huawei company logo is seen at a shopping mall in Shanghai
File photo: A Huawei company logo is seen at a shopping mall in Shanghai

NO ONE LISTENING

Huawei itself, which is also a top smartphone maker, has done very little traditional lobbying in Washington on the matter, but has considered sending a letter to the Commerce Department, two people familiar with Huawei's thinking said.

"We simply have no channel of communication," Liang told reporters earlier this month.

A month after being blacklisted, Huawei has not spoken to the United States government about the matter, two people said.

Huawei had been cutting back its lobbying efforts even before the ban. Last year, it laid off five employees at its Washington office, including its vice president of external affairs, and slashed lobbying expenditures, Reuters reported.

Still, Huawei has put up a vigorous legal fight and unleashed a public relations campaign to defend itself against the U.S. government's allegations. It ran a full-page ad in major U.S. newspapers in February following a string of interviews with Huawei Chief Executive Ren Zhengfei aimed at softening its dark image in the West.

Huawei's response underscores its recognition of its waning influence with the Trump administration, which has launched a global campaign against the company, analysts said.

"Huawei is at a loss over what they should do next," said Jim Lewis, a cyber expert with Washington's Center for Strategic and International Studies. "It is in a really bad position in the U.S. Nobody is looking out to do Huawei a favor."

Even so, the ban has had real repercussions.

Broadcom, which has not been lobbying the Commerce Department, sent a shockwave through the global chipmaking industry when it forecast that the U.S.-China trade tensions and the Huawei ban would knock $2 billion off its sales this year.

The Commerce Department did make a concession just days after the ban was put in place, announcing on May 20 that it would offer a temporary general license allowing Huawei to purchase U.S. goods so it can help existing customers maintain the reliability of networks and equipment.

#Huawei
#ban
#lobby
#US chipmakers
5 years ago
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