US President Donald Trump is due to sign a decree this week prohibiting US companies from using telecommunications equipment made by organisations that pose a risk to national security. This paves the way for a ban on doing business with Huawei, China.
That’s what three U.S. officials who are familiar with the plan say to Reuters. The decree does not mention specific countries or companies. According to the sources, the decree has been in preparation for more than a year and there have been several delays. The insiders claim that there may be a further delay.
The decree would invoke the International Emergency Economic Powers Act, giving the president the authority to regulate commerce in response to a national emergency threatening the United States. The decree requires the Commerce Department, together with other government agencies, to draw up a plan to implement it, according to the sources.
Huawei
The decree should also pave the way for a ban on the use of Huawei equipment by US companies. The country thinks that the Chinese government can misuse the company’s equipment for espionage. Huawei has always denied this. The company has not yet responded to the decree that Trump would sign.
The US is not only trying to make it difficult for Huawei to do business in America, but is also actively lobbying allies to keep the Chinese company’s equipment out of the yet to be built 5G networks. In February, for example, the European Union was warned not to use the equipment because it would pose a major security risk. In America itself, government agencies were banned from using Huawei and ZTE equipment last August.
In the Netherlands, it seems that Huawei is involved in the construction of the 5G network. KPN has entered into a preliminary agreement with the company because the supplier is the global market leader in this field and therefore has the best solutions available. The agreement can still be reversed to bring it into line with future Dutch government policy. The cabinet is expected to come up with a plan for this at the end of this month.
This news article was automatically translated from Dutch to give Techzine.eu a head start. All news articles after September 1, 2019 are written in native English and NOT translated. All our background stories are written in native English as well. For more information read our launch article.
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