According to the newspaper, the U.S. administration has been hatching these plans for quite some time, but it was prevented by the coronavirus pandemic.
U.S. President Donald Trump’s administration is discussing plans to artificially intensify competition with China’s Huawei Telecommunications Corporation by taking over European companies Ericsson and Nokia by American technology and communications corporations. This was reported by The Wall Street Journal on Thursday in its electronic version with reference to its own sources.
According to them, the U.S. administration has been hatching these plans for quite some time, but it was prevented by the Coronavirus pandemic. Because of this factor, Washington only sporadically consults with Cisco Systems, other U.S. technology companies, telecom operators and private investment firms to acquire Ericsson and Nokia. Among other things, it is proposed to provide these European companies with tax breaks in the U.S., greater access to financing for export operations or, alternatively, to provide government support to those U.S. businesses that agree to buy Ericsson and Nokia.
According to the publication, a report prepared by a group of experts, including former NASA director Daniel Goldwin and former Nokia management member Hossein Muin, is circulating in the White House. They propose to create “under the auspices of the United States” and with the support of the federal government, a technology consortium that would be able to close the gap between American enterprises and Huawei. This idea is supported by a group of private investment firms headed by Cerberus Capital. According to the publication, the American giants are restrained by the administration’s plans, as they are not too interested in taking over such second-tier firms as Ericsson and Nokia.
In May 2019, U.S. President Donald Trump signed a decree imposing a state of emergency to protect the U.S. information and communication infrastructure from foreign threats. In this regard, from May 17, 2019 the Ministry of Commerce blacklisted Huawei due to “threat to national security. The corporation said it was conducting business in accordance with the law.
On May 20 last year, the Ministry of Trade issued a temporary general license to Huawei for 90 days, which renewed the right to maintain networks and provide software updates for the company’s mobile devices. Subsequently, the U.S. authorities have extended the license several times. In August 2018, Trump signed a decree that prohibited U.S. government agencies from using equipment produced by Huawei.