The Trump administration’s trade war tactics meant to target China’s 5G ambitions and punish mobile-technology giant Huawei Technologies Co. might boomerang and harm U.S. wireless carriers and their American customers, The Wall Street Journal reported on Tuesday, illustrating how globally entwined the internet and telecom sectors have become.
Western industry executives said the Trump administration’s new 25-percent tariffs on Chinese goods have made it more expensive for Western firms with Chinese factories to send products to the United States, and a U.S. Commerce Department directive meant to make it harder for Huawei to buy critical components might also make it more difficult for American and European telecom-equipment makers to purchase certain supplies.
According to K.C. Swanson, global-policy director at the Telecommunications Industry Association, a trade organization representing telecom-equipment makers that do business in the U.S., 5G could become less attractive for consumers because higher costs could lead carriers to charge customers more for wireless plans.
American officials say that setting up a wireless network using the new 5G technology is a national security priority, because Beijing could order Huawei to tap into the hardware or software it makes to spy or take control of internet-connected objects.
Huawei founder Ren Zhengfei said that the company had expected such obstacles from the U.S. and was prepared.
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