US paying Brasil to not use Huawei?

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According to Reuters on October 20th, a US trade delegation visited Brazilian President Bolsonaro to offer financing to telecommunications companies that purchase network equipment from suppliers other than Huawei.

China is Brazil’s biggest trading partner and Huawei currently supplies equipment to telecommunications companies. Brazil plans to auction the 5G spectrum next year and this effort may be an attempt to convince Brazilian authorities to look at other 5G suppliers.

If successful, Brazil would join the US, UK, Australia, Sweden and Japan as countries already taking a position on banning Huawei into their 5G network.

Do you supply Huawei equipment or parts to Huawei and have questions about the export control ban? If so, contact David Hsu by phone/text at 832-896-6288 or by email at attorney.dave@yahoo.com.

Huawei Docs to replace Office, Google Docs and iCloud?

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2 days ago, Huawei announced “Huawei Docs”, an office productivity software suite with individual software titles: Document, Spreadsheet and Presentation – clear alternatives to Microsoft’s Word, Excel and Power Point. Take a page from Google, Huawei Docs claims to support over 50 types of file formats and “Huawei Drive” allows users to save changes to the same document across all devices using their “Huawei ID.”

For Huawei users, Huawei Docs is avialable on all Huawei Mate 40 devices worldwide. While Huawei is number one in the world for most phones shipped, this new office productivity software can only increase sales.

Ultimately, I believe this move by Huawei is a result of the export ban on Huawei – preventing Huawei from accessing Google software and or Microsoft apps found on the Google play store.

Do you supply goods to Huawei and want to know if you are in compliance with the current export regulations? Contact David Hsu by phone/text at 832-896-6288 or by email at attorney.dave@yahoo.com for a no-cost consultation.

Will Huawei sell their “Honor” phone brand to avoid US sanctions?

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According to a Reuters article on October 14th, Huawei Technologies Co. Ltd. is in talks with Digital China Group, TCL, and/or Xiaomi to sell their “Honor” brand smartphone business. Honor was established in 2013 as Huawei’s budget line of smart phones. It is believed the new deal may earn Huawei more than $3.5 billion dollars.

One benefit of the sale away from Huawei – would be Honor’s ability to purchase materials from US suppliers. The deal, if sold would include the Honor brand, research and development, and the supply chain management business.

If you export goods overseas or have any questions about how to avoid violating export penalties for violating US sanctions – contact export attorney David Hsu by phone/text at 832-896-6288 or by email at attorney.dave@yahoo.com.

Huawei shifts focus towards Africa instead of Western nations.

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With the US, UK, Australia, and India (as of late July) prohibiting the use of Huawei and/or ZTE components from being used in future 5G infrastructure, China’s Huawei has shifted their focus to other parts of the world – this time on the Africa continent.

According to the South China Morning Post, South Africa hosts Africa’s data-only mobile network with stand alone 5G and is teaming up with Huawei and other local telecommunication companies to expand 5G services. Kenya is likely to follow suit this year followed by Lesotho, Egypt, Nigeria, Uganda, Senegal, Morocco, Democratic Republic of Congo and Gabon.

Whereas Western governments have criticized Huawei, South Africa’s President and Kenya’s Minister of Information both have publicly supported Huawei and have chosen Huawei for their 5G network. Huawei’s lower equipment price compared to rivals Nokia, Ericsson and Samsung have also helped their success into African projects along with special financing terms for African nations.

If you have any questions how the Huawei export ban may be impacting your business – contact David Hsu by phone/text at 832-896-6288 or by email at attorney.dave@yahoo.com.

Huawei and ZTE excluded from India’s 5G network.

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In a surprise to no one, it is reported that India plans to implement their 5G network without use of any equipment or technology from China-based Huawei Technologies Corporation and ZTE Corporation.

There are two reasons for India’s decision:

  1. Last month, foreign investment rules were changed that allowed national security concerns with foreign countries that shared a border to India. The new rules allows India to restrict bidding by nations that may pose a national security concern to India.
  2. Border clashes between India and China resulting in 20 fatalities for India and an undisclosed number of Chinese troops.

India’s prohibition on Huawei and ZTE equipment is similar to action taken in the US, recently in the UK and Australia – in which these countries have raised concerns about the alleged Huawei and ZTE links to the Chinese communist government .

Huawei chip supply diminishing due to US export sanctions, may soon halt production of their Kirin chipset.

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As you are aware, in May 2019 the US Government added Huawei and its affiliated entities to the entity list – preventing US firms from selling technology to Huawei without a license. Huawei was to remain on the list until 2021. However, in May 2020, the US Department of Commerce changed the export rule to stop any shipment of semiconductors chips to Huawei from any company that produced chips using US software and technology, unless they applied for a license.

The May 2020 revised rule had an immediate impact on Huawei. For example, Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company (world’s largest semiconductor manufacturer) stopped accepting any orders for Huawei in May following the new rule.

Huawei’s consumer business unit CEO Richard Yu, said the chips purchased from foreign semiconductor manufacturers that use US software and technology will stop production on September 15th. Without chips from foreign manufacturers, Huawei will no longer be able to manufacture their Kirin chips.

If you have any questions about Huawei or want to ensure you are not violating any export controls, contact David Hsu by phone/text anytime at 832-896-6288 or by email at attorney.dave@yahoo.com.

Britain confirmed to quit Huawei in its 5G network.

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According to the Voice of America quoting a British political insider – the British government will quit plans to use Huawei technology in its 5G network, with an announcement coming soon. The announcement will also discuss the gradual removal of the current Huawei technology in place. Part of the decision is due to the COVID-19 crisis and public disillusionment with Beijing along with strong opposition to Huawei from senior members.

The VOA article stated initial public support for Huawei changed due to China’s handling of the coronavirus and the situation over Hong Kong. Lastly, the article mentions Britain’s Prime Minister Johnson’s fight against COVID-19 also likely resulted in a tougher view towards China.

In response, Huawei launched an advertising campaign reminding the British public of their 20 year involvement in the UK and their “commitment to helping bring fast reliable mobile and full fiber broadband networks to every part [of] the country.”

The United States will likely welcome the news as they have been lobbying the UK government and according to a statement from Secretary of State Mike Pompeo: “The United States stands with our allies and partners” and “stands ready to assist our friends in the U.K. with any needs they have, from building secure and reliable nuclear power plants to developing trusted 5G solutions that protect their citizens’ privacy,” Pompeo said.

It will be interesting to see whether Nokia or Ericcson are picked to replace Huawei in England. Will post more as news becomes available.

Canadian government silent on Huawei 5G.

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Canada’s three major telecommunications companies have previously rejected use of Huawei Technologies equipment for Canada’s 5G-network. However, after two years, Canada’s government is still reviewing the potential for Huawei involvement in Canadian 5G.

Currently, Telus Corp, Bell Canada and Rogers Communications have all agreed to not choose Huawei and instead look at Ericcson and Nokia for 5G equipment. It is unknown why the shift away from Huawei, as Telus Corp and Bell Canada previously chose Huawei as the more affordable option.

As you are aware, Canada is facing pressure from the US and the UK to seek alternatives to Huawei. If you or your company does any export business with Huawei, contact our office for a no cost obligation. Contact David Hsu by phone/tezt at 832-896-6288 or by email at attorney.dave@yahoo.com or dh@gjatradelaw.com.

HSBC may face retaliation if UK bans Huawei equipment.

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According to the Telegraph, HSBC Holdings PLC (HSBC) Chairman Mark Tucker is reported to have told one of the British Prime Minister’s advisers that HSBC bank in China could face retaliation if Britain bans networking equipment from Huawei Technologies.

This past January, Britain designated Huawei a “high-risk” vendor and placed a limit to Huawei’s 5G participation in the UK 5G network at 35% and excluding Huawei form the data-heavy core of the network.

In addition, there are current discussions with entirely removing Huawei out of the 5G network by 2023.

UK wants group of 10 countries to develop its own 5G technology.

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According to NDTV, Britain is seeking cooperation among 9 other nations to form a group to develop their own 5G technology in an effort to curtail dependence on China’s Huawei. One reason Britain may be leading the way because 35% of their 5G network use Huawei’s equipment. The group of countries are likely the other democractic countries in the G7 nations that include Australia, South Korea and India.

However, the current Prime Minister Boris Johnson has asked his government to draft a plan to remove Huawei equipment out of the 5G network by 2023. With a potential exit by Huawei, this would leave only two other companies to fill the void – Nokia and Ericsson.

Relations between the UK and China have worsened following passage of new security laws in Beijing that would apply to Hong Kong. Following the passage of the security law, Britain said they would offer 350,000 Hong Kong nationals holding a British National oversees passports the ability relocate to the UK.