The game of cat-and-mouse between Huawei and the US continues

Yet another set of restrictions have been placed by the US on Huawei and anyone even slightly associated with it.

The stated reason for the new restrictions, which just seem to be more of the same, is that Huawei keeps trying to get around existing ones, especially when it comes to the chips it needs for its phones. Last week Huawei revealed that it was running out of such components, so it’s not surprising to hear it has been trying every means possible to get hold of more.

“Huawei and its foreign affiliates have extended their efforts to obtain advanced semiconductors developed or produced from U.S. software and technology in order to fulfill the policy objectives of the Chinese Communist Party,” said US Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross.

“As we have restricted its access to U.S. technology, Huawei and its affiliates have worked through third parties to harness U.S. technology in a manner that undermines U.S. national security and foreign policy interests. This multi-pronged action demonstrates our continuing commitment to impede Huawei’s ability to do so.”

You can’t beat a bit of multi-pronged action to get the job done. Most of the prongs in question seem to be to impose more restrictions on the use of intermediaries to get around the restrictions, as well as adding 38 more companies with ‘Huawei’ in their name to the shit-list. On top of that the temporary general license that was in place to help US companies adapt to the changes how now expired, which will mean things like Android updates for Huawei phones will cease.