Trump Signs Executive Order That Will Lead To U.S. Ban On Huawei (Updated)
Zak Doffman Contributor
I write about security and surveillance.
The long-expected executive order barring U.S. companies from using telecoms equipment from manufacturers deemed a national security risk was finally signed by President Trump on Wednesday.
According to Reuters, "the executive order invokes the International Emergency Economic Powers Act, which gives the president the authority to regulate commerce in response to a national emergency that threatens the United States. The order directs the Commerce Department, working with other government agencies, to draw up a plan for enforcement within 150 days."
Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross said that this should protect against "foreign adversaries [accessing] the nation's information and communications technology and services supply chain, [and now] under President Trump's leadership, Americans will be able to trust that our data and infrastructure are secure."
Ajit Pai, chairman of the FCC, described the move as "a significant step toward securing America's networks.
The executive order has been in the works for more than a year and was expected to be signed in time for February's Mobile World Congress in Barcelona. That didn't happen, and despite the best efforts of the U.S. officials on the ground in Spain, Huawei essentially stole the show.
The backdrop to the latest news is the rollercoaster trade talks between the U.S. and China that have at their heart the "unfair business practices" that the U.S. claims skew competition in key marketplaces, including telecoms equipment.
The large U.S. carriers do not include Huawei equipment in their networks, but the smaller, rural carriers do. Huawei delivers more for less, and this is hard to turn down for smaller companies. It is, of course, the explanation as to why Huawei is able to do this that is a central plank in U.S. arguments against the company. Is it because the company is financially supported by China as part of its export-led national security strategy, or is it even more blatantly an intelligence-collection ploy.
"The Rural Wireless Association," Reuters reported, "which represents carriers with fewer than 100,000 subscribers, estimated that 25 percent of its members had Huawei or ZTE equipment in their networks, it said in an FCC filing in December. "
And so should we talk about the 'elephant in the room'? This executive order puts the U.K. in a very difficult position, especially with Tuesday's announcement from Vodafone, Europe's largest carrier, that their 5G network will be live from July and will include Huawei equipment in the mix.
On Tuesday, U.K. Foreign Secretary Jeremy Hunt sought to play both sides of the U.S. and China fence on the subject of Huawei, balancing national security and intelligence sharing arrangements with the economic realities of Chinese trade. "We as a government are going through the process of making an assessment to what extent if, at all, we are able to use Huawei kit," he said. "We are never going to make a decision which compromises our intelligence sharing with our five eye partners."
But he also said that the U.K. needs to work with China given its trajectory to being the world's largest economy within. a generation. "The growth of China," he said, "is something that we should welcome. We need to avoid an unnecessary Cold War with China."
The U.S. has publicly expressed its frustration with the U.K. position on Huawei, and on a visit to London last week, U.S. Secretary of State, Mike Pompeo, said that "insufficient security will impede the United States' ability to share certain information within trusted networks. This is just what China wants - to divide western alliances."
Also last week, U.S. ambassador to the EU Gordon Sondland told the Financial Times that any country that "hands the keys to their country over to the Chinese . . . will regret having done so." This was a barb aimed specifically at the U.K. and Germany.
"China steals intellectual property for military purposes," Pompeo said in London. "It wants to dominate AI, space technology, ballistic missiles and many other areas. Why would anyone grant such power to a regime that has already grossly violated cyberspace? What can Her Majesty's government do to make sure sensitive technologies don't become open doors for Beijing's spymasters?"
Now that U.S. companies will be prohibited from using Huawei, the question will be how that impacts their operations overseas, and, just as critically, how it may impact on overseas companies operating in the U.S.
What is certain, is that this news will now focus minds in governments, regulators and carriers worldwide.
Zak Doffman
I am the Founder/CEO of Digital Barriers, providing surveillance solutions to defense, security and law enforcement agencies worldwide. Contact me at zakd@me.com.