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This week, the big news in US tech circles was the series of charges brought against the Chinese telecoms company Huawei and its chief financial officer, Meng Wanzhou. US prosecutors allege that the company has broken US sanctions against Iran and has stolen technology from one of its US business partners, T-Mobile.
While those prosecutions are ongoing, however, officials are also considering taking stronger action against the company in the short term. One thing they might do is to say that the US telecoms company can no longer buy any kit from Huawei. This would be largely symbolic, given most large US telecoms companies don't buy Huawei equipment anyway, for national security reasons.
A slightly stronger option is that they could ban US companies from selling to Huawei. That would be much more serious, given the Chinese companies rely heavily on US technology such as software and microchips. A final option, if they want to get really tough, is that the US could label Huawei a specially designated national, which could mean that Huawei's not allowed to do business anywhere in the world if those transactions are done in dollars. That will be completely crippling for the Chinese industrial giant.
However, while all these options are being considered, in the background are ongoing trade talks between Washington and Beijing. Donald Trump, the US president, might therefore find his options somewhat limited in how strong he can be against Huawei if he also wants to get a trade deal.
