China's president will demand an end to the ban on US tech sales to Huawei as part of a broader trade agreement, reports the Wall Street Journal.

June 27, 2019

2 Min Read
Huawei Ban at Heart of US/China Trade Talk Pitch – WSJ

Chinese President Xi Jinping is set to demand that the US ban on tech sales to Huawei be lifted as part of any trade deal struck with President Trump during the planned upcoming meeting between the two political heavyweights, the Wall Street Journal has reported.Xi and Trump are scheduled to meet this Saturday in Osaka, Japan, during the G20 Summit and, according to the WSJ, the Chinese president's team has compiled a set of terms that need to be met if a trade truce with the US is to be struck.Among those terms, according to the WSJ, is that Huawei and its subsidiaries be removed from the US Commerce Dept.'s Entity List that identifies companies that cannot be sold US goods and services. Huawei was added to the list in May this year.Why this matters

That a lifting of the ban on sales to Huawei is included in China's list of demands is not a surprise, but a broad range of US vendors and trade associations that are keen to sell to, and collaborate with, the Chinese vendor will be encouraged by news that the issue is deemed to be of such importance. US vendors want to be free to do business with Huawei if they so wish and many trade associations want the Chinese vendor to be involved in developing specifications and standards -- they fear that blocking Huawei's involvement will lead to a schism in international standards development that would slow innovation and increase R&D costs.It will also be welcome news to Huawei, even though the company's management claim the US ban is not severely disrupting its supply chain.The big question now is whether Trump and Xi will actually meet, let alone reach any agreements.What might not help China's case, though, is that Huawei has just been found guilty by a District Court in Texas of stealing intellectual property from US firm CNEX, even though the court did not award any damages, reports Reuters.It could be a make-or-break weekend for many in the telecom technology sector, both in the US and China.For more on this see:With US Firms Skirting Ban, Huawei Exec Sees Business as Usual

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China Mobile Hands 5G Work to Ericsson, Nokia Amid Trade War Fears— Ray Le Maistre, Editor-in-Chief, Light Reading

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