latest
Trump administration issues one more middle finger to Huawei and its US suppliers
Reuters: $120 billion in US trade with Huawei held up
One of the President Donald Trump's choicest adversaries during his term has been China. He considers the country to be a trade scofflaw while politicians in intelligence circles have pegged it as a digital security threat. Huawei has been targeted to be the biggest casualty from multiple sanctions that have blocked it from acquiring American goods and services. Now, as the current administration makes way for another, we're learning of one of its final moves symbolizing a door slam.
Huawei tipped to sell Honor to government-funded consortium for $15 billion
Will this mean new Honor phones with the latest version of Android?
In the background of the election cycle, the U.S. trade war with China continues to rage with Huawei taking some of the most damaging mortars so far. It's unable to import anything even remotely American in nature and has had to make painful adjustments to its operations. One change rumored to fall out of this pivot was a potential sale of its subsidiary Honor. Now, we're learning more details about the multi-billion dollar deal that could land as early as this week.
Huawei's battle with the United States over trade bans is still very much alive, nearly a year after the White House initially called Huawei a security risk. Several American companies have continued to sell components to Huawei under special licenses, and now the Commerce Department and the Defense Department are sparring over more limits on Huawei trade.
Huawei has had a tumultuous year. First came the government ban preventing the Chinese manufacturer from fraternizing with US-based businesses, effectively severing Huawei's license to use Google's apps and services on its popular Android phones. Then came rumors that Huawei was scrambling to release its own mobile operating system to replace Android, which has yet to materialize. Huawei has even forecasted a major revenue hit for the 2019 fiscal year, but a new report regarding the company's ban status yields a bit of light at the end of the tunnel.
Let's face it. All the phones, accessories, and other gadgets you see on this site come from one place: China. Actually, considering more than half a trillion dollars in goods came to the United States from there last year, you can count a helluva lot more stuff in that pile. Knowing how trade relations are between these two countries right now, we might be relieved about electronics tariffs that were supposed to come into effect this Sunday being delayed until mid-December. But there's been another autumn deadline we've been hurdling towards that might just make that Chinese import you're planning to take in be it a case, a battery pack, or a burner phone — more expensive starting next year. It involves the USPS and the United Nations governmental body over international postage, the Universal Postal Union.
The White House has announced that it will split its next round of tariffs on Chinese imports into two parts. The first part, which will mostly affect farming, livestock, and foodstuffs, will come into effect as previously scheduled on September 1. However, in a bid to perhaps offset a major blow to Chinese industry during the holiday season, a number of items — including electronics such as smartphones and laptops — will not have tariffs applied until December 15.
Huawei and its U.S.-based suppliers remain on eggshells as the Trump administration has yet to issue special permits allowing domestic companies to ship product to the Chinese tech manufacturer — this is going on as Huawei's temporary reprieve from an Commerce Department import ban is headed into its last week. Now, there's word from Bloomberg's sources that the White House is stalling on approving the permits.
Beyond the political luggage generated in the midst of the protracted U.S.-China trade dispute, the American import ban that Huawei has to deal with is laden with doubt from tech critics who chide D.C. with inhibiting innovation in mobile phones. Lest we forget, though, that the Department of Justice is pursuing the Chinese tech behemoth for stealing trade secrets and fraud in relation to Iran sanctions breaches. Now, we're learning of leaked documents that tie Huawei to business conducted in another adversarial country: North Korea.
If you've kept track of the political football in Washington that is Huawei, you'll know that the Trump administration, which supports the Chinese tech manufacturer, is at odds with Congress, which wants it disassociated with U.S. trade partners. The company has publicly been preparing contingency measures for a variety of situations, including replacement software for its smartphones should Android become unusable as a result of the ban. However, one of its board members has revealed that it has no intentions to leave Android, contradicting what executives have previously said about their plans.
Last month, HTC announced a smartphone trade-up program, offering potential customers the chance to trade in their old cell phone for a $100 prepaid VISA card or the value of the phone (whichever is greater) after buying a new HTC One. The decision was a good one, especially for a phone that – while technically great – is badly in need of some effective marketing.
Scottrade Releases Android App That Lets You Stream Real-time Quotes, Trade Stocks, And More [Video]
Scottrade, a popular brokerage firm, just introduced the official Android app that lets its customers trade stocks using their mobile devices.