National Media Quote Kevin Wolf on Trump Administration’s Moves Against Huawei
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Akin Gump international trade partner Kevin Wolf has been quoted by several major media outlets following President Trump’s move to cut off China’s Huawei Technologies from doing business with American suppliers. Huawei’s addition to the “entity list,” means that it will no longer be able to sell any of its products in the United States.
Wolf, a former Assistant Secretary of Commerce under President Barack Obama, told The New York Times for the article “Trump’s Latest Move Takes Straight Shot at Huawei’s Business,” that the move was “the trade equivalent of a nuclear bomb.” The article reports that pressure is on to find common ground ahead of a potential meeting next month between Mr. Trump and China’s leader, Xi Jinping. The U.S. campaign against Huawei, it says, could become a bargaining chip.
Wolf agreed, saying, “In every other administration, the entity listing was purely a tool of law enforcement and national security. The thing to watch is whether this will become a tool of trade policy and used as leverage in the negotiations.”
Regardless of how it’s used, The Wall Street Journal, in its article “Trump Steps Up Assault on China’s Huawei,” quotes Wolf as saying, “This could have massive ripple effects throughout the world-wide telecom infrastructure.” Beyond hurting Huawei and its American suppliers, the move could affect any entities around the world using Huawei equipment that relies on U.S. technology if, for example, they need a license to get replacement parts, he said.
As Wolf explained to The Associated Press in “Economic sanctions on Huawei could backfire on US firms,” if Huawei “can’t get the widget or the part or the software update to keep functioning, then those systems go down.”
Combined with the case against Huawei’s chief financial officer who faces possible extradition to the United States on charges of violating U.S. sanctions against Iran, Wolf, in The Washington Post’s “Trump administration cracks down on giant Chinese tech firm, escalating clash with Beijing,” said the two actions are a significant tightening of the vise. “This is going after a Chinese state champion,” he said. “I suspect it will add greatly to the tensions.”
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