Huawei’s Android alternative to make first debut … but not on a phone.

black huawei android smartphone

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I have previously mentioned Huawei’s Hongmeng OS, their in-house Android alternative that was slated to have an earlier release date after the US placed Huawei on the “entity list”. However, Huawei’s Hongmeng OS’ first device won’t be on a smart phone – but rather on Huawei’s TV with a smart screen. The smart screens on TV’s will be the communication hub for the tv and the living room and is expected to launch next month.

The Hongmeng is also trademarked as “Ark” and has been reported to be in development for a long time. I thought the Hongmeng OS would be shelved for awhile after the reprieve by President Trump, however, it seems Huawei has the new OS ready to go. Will be interested to see how the OS operates and what kind of native application support it will have.

Intel CEO talks about Huawei ban.

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In an interview with Yahoo Finance, Intel CEO Bob Swan said Huawei was an “important customer” while stressing Intel must abide by the “rules of the road” – the export restrictions in place after Huawei’s inclusion on the BIS entity list.

Intel’s CEO was one of six other tech CEO’s who met with President Trump this past Monday to discuss security issues around the use of Huawei equipment. While most people relate Huawei to their smartphones, Huawei also makes the infrastructure for the internet. Huawei is currently working on 5G equipment which US officials suspect will contain back doors or otherĀ  means for Chinese espionage.

In related news – Intel reported second-quarter earnings and beating expectations and Intel will sell most of its smartphone modem business to Apple for $1 billion.

Trump saves Huawei.

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Official portrait of President Donald J. Trump, Friday, October 6, 2017. (Official White House photo by Shealah Craighead)

Well, not exactly Huawei, but at least Huawei’s smartphone division. After backtracking on sanctions, Huawei’s shipments for 2019 are estimated to be 260 million units and more. This new forecast even beats the pre entity list placement forecast of 250 million units.

According to the Bloomberg article cited several reasons for increased smartphone sales: (1) inclusion of Google play store apps for future smart phones, and (2) increased Chinese domestic sales of Huawei devices that may result from consumers supporting a domestic company.

Ultimately, Trump’s reversal of the Huawei ban (for devices not a threat to national security) has ultimately saved Huawei and their smartphone sales. Over the past two months, there have been multiple reports of canceled phones and laptops (new Matebook); we can expect to see those new devices in the near future as a direct impact of President Trump’s reversal at the G20 summit.

If you export any goods that may contain Huawei parts or components, contact experienced export compliance attorney David Hsu at 832-896-6288 or by email at dh@gjatradelaw.com, attorney.dave@yahoo.com.

Huawei laying off hundreds of US workers.

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As reported by the Wall Street Journal, Chinese telecommunications firm Huawei will lay off hundreds of workers at their research subsidiary – Futurewei Technologies. Futurewei is the US-based research and development arm for Huawei and employs roughly 850 people nationwide.

According to public records, Futurewei was founded in 2001 in Plano, Texas. I just checked online, and the website www. futurewei.com already appears to be offline.

Treasury Secretary Mnuchin urges US suppliers to seek export licenses if they want to resume sales to Huawei.

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As reported by the Wall Street Journal, Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin asked U.S. suppliers of Huawei to apply for export licenses in order to resume sales to the Huawei. The export licenses are required as Huawei is listed on the BIS entity list.

At last month’s G20 meeting, Trump announced the ability for US companies to sell to Huawei if there was no threat to “U.S. national security”.

I just checked the BIS website and there are no published guidelines regarding products that would be eligible for a license and what components may be a threat to national security.

While both the US and China agreed to new meetings, there have also been no set dates for new face-to-face meetings.

If you need assistance applying for an export license to sell to Huawei or any other entity on the BIS list, or have questions how the Huawei ban will impact your business, contact experienced export attorney David Hsu at 832-896-6288 or by email at dh@gjatradelaw.com, attorney.dave@yahoo.com.

US announces clarification of Huawei ban.

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Wilbur Ross, Official Portrait

At the G-20 summit, President Trump announced that US companies could sell to Huawei. Today, the Trump administration filled in the rest of the details by announcing a relaxation of the restrictions against selling to Huawei – limited the ban only to products that are related to national security.

Yesterday, Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross announced that that licenses would be issued to companies to sell their products to Huawei under certain conditions.

On Tuesday Wilbur Ross, the commerce secretary,Ā said that Washington would issue licences to companies to sell their products to the Chinese telecoms equipment maker under certain conditions. The main condition being “no threat to US national security”. As Huawei is still on the BIS entity list, companies that sell products not harmful to US national security will still need to apply for a license.

If you have questions about the Huawei ban or would like to apply for an export license, contact export compliance attorney David Hsu at 832-896-6288 or by email at dh@gjatradelaw.com, attorney.dave@yahoo.com.

CNBC reports Huawei personnel links to China’s military intelligence.

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CNBC published an article onlineĀ citing a study conducted by Christopher Balding, an associate professor at Fulbright University Vietnam, and London-based conservative think tank Henry Jackson Society. The study looked at resumes and curriculum vitae of Huawei employees and they report that ā€œkey mid-level technical personnel employed by Huawei have strong backgrounds in work closely associated with intelligence gathering and military activities.ā€ The paper said that some employees had ā€œto specific instances of hacking or industrial espionage conducted against Western firms”.

The resumes and personal information was leaked when a website and database run from a recruitment firm was compromised and published online.

In response, Huawei has claimed they are unable to verify the Huawei employee information and cannot confirm whether the “veracity of all of the information published online”. In response, Huawei also states that ā€œHuawei maintains strict policies for hiring candidates with military or government backgrounds. During the hiring process, these candidates are required to provide documentation proving they have ended their relationships with the military or the government”.

A Huawei spokesperson also added: ā€œWe welcome professional and fact-based reporting on investigations into Huawei’s transparency. We hope that any further research papers will contain less conjecture when drawing their conclusions, and avoid so many speculative statements about what Professor Balding ā€˜believes,’ ā€˜infers,’ and ā€˜cannot rule out,ā€™ā€.

If you have questions about how the Huawei inclusion on the BIS entity list means for your business, contact export license attorney David Hsu at 832-896-6288 or by email at dh@gjatradelaw.com, attorney.dave@yahoo.com.

White House trade advisor: trade deal with China will take time.

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White House Office of Trade and Manufacturing Policy, Peter Navarro, source: whitehouse.govĀ 

As reported by Reuters, WhiteĀ House trade adviser Peter Navarro said in an interview with CNBC a trade deal with China will “take time and we want to get it right”.

President Trump and Chinese leader Xi Jinping agreed at the G20 Summit to restart trade talks after the 11th round of trade talks ended this past May. As a gesture of good will, Trump did ease the restriction on US suppliers to supply Huawei with some components. However, Huawei is still on the BIS entity list and the US policy on Huawei’s 5G equipment has not changed.

Peter Navarro also tried to temper down bipartisan opposition to the easing of restrictions on Huawei by noting the ease in restrictions is limited to sales of chips and lower-tech items that do not impact national security.

If you have any questions about Huawei’s inclusion on the entity list and how that will impact your business, contact trade and customs attorney David Hsu at 832-896-6288 or by email at attorney.dave@yahoo.com, dh@gjatradelaw.com.

US government files motion to dismiss Huawei lawsuit.

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Just before Independence Day, the U.S. government filed a motion to dismiss the lawsuit by Huawei that claimed the US had acted illegally when it blacklisted Huawei.

The lawsuit was filed in March in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Texas, saying that a law limited its American business was unconstitutional.

Huawei sued the U.S. government in early March, in a complaint filed in federal court in Texas, saying that a law limiting its American business was unconstitutional.

The basis for the U.S. government motion to dismiss was that Huawei was still on the entity list, and export license requests from U.S. companies seeking to export products to Huawei were being reviewed under national security scrutiny.

“Ignorantia juris non excusat” and the need for export compliance in the wake of the Huawei ban.

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Huawei’s surprise placement on the BIS Entity List highlights the crucial need for your company to have a compliance program in place.

Many people believe export compliance programs only apply to the big guys – however, even the smallest business that sends their products to customers outside of the country are subject to the various export regulations and the steep penalties for export violations. as the saying goes, Ignorantia juris non excusat or ignorantia legis neminem excusat (Latin for “ignorance of the law excusesĀ not” and “ignoranceĀ ofĀ law excuses noĀ one” respectively).

Small and medium sized company personnel may not know of these requirements until it is too late – fines for export violations can reach up to $1 million per violation in criminal cases and administrative cases can result in penalties amount to the greater of $250,000 or twice the value of the transaction. Criminal violators may even face up to 20 years in jail time and punishment for administrative cases can include denial of export privileges – it’s a risk you can’t afford to take.

Here are a few quick tips to protect your company –

  1. Be sure your exported items do not require an export license.
  2. Determine if the destination country requires an export license.
  3. Know your customers – screen who is buying your goods and be sure a restricted party does not receive your goods.
  4. Red flags – does the destination country of your product meet a need for your product?
  5. Be sure you have a copy of all the required documentation – it is not enough to hire a freight forwarder to handle the export.

For more information and a no obligation consultation on creating an export compliance program – contact experienced compliance attorney David Hsu at 832-896-6288 or by email at dh@gjatradelaw.com or attorney.dave@yahoo.com.