Huawei trolls Trump by announcing 5G factory in France

Europe is a key front in the trade war between the US and China, as is Huawei, so President Trump won’t be happy to hear Huawei is building a factory in France.

Huawei has basically strolled into Paris and slapped €200 million on the table to build a brand new plant dedicated to manufacturing 4G and 5G kit. The stated reason for picking France as the site for its new factory is that Huawei wants to be better able to serve its European customers. The clear inference being that Huawei is here to stay.

On top of that the announcement featured a lot of rhetoric about Huawei being a global company and how great for France all this lovely investment will be. “The plant will also have a demo center, showcasing the wireless base station production, software loading, and testing process,” said the announcement. “The center will be open to carriers, governments, and related authorities, demonstrating Huawei’s positive stance on Europe’s call for digital sovereignty.”

This announcement serves several purposes. As well as showing Huawei’s commitment to doing business in Europe and getting in its good books by directly investing, this move also serves to illustrate how little political influence the US has over Europe. Additionally, in the battle for geopolitical hearts and minds, Huawei can contrast this move with the difficult relationship US tech giants have with European authorities. French President Macron can expect a difficult phone call soon.