Trump makes minor Huawei concession following pleading from US tech sector

Following talks with the Chinese leader, US President Trump has announced US companies will be able to flog Huawei some gear if they really must.

It looks like Trump got the memo that the collateral damage from his decision to ban US companies from doing business with Huawei was starting to mount up. As part of trade talks with Xi Jinping Trump announced on Twitter, as it his wont, that US companies can resume selling Huawei stuff, so long as it doesn’t cross some arbitrary, unspecified ‘national security’ line.

Here’s Trump making it official.

It doesn’t look like there was significant progress on the underlying trade war that seems to have at least had an amplifying effect on the Huawei situation, but at least the two leaders are talking and making the right public noises. The mutual decision not to impose further tariffs, as had been threatened in advance, is one positive sign, but it looks like the final resolution for Huawei remains closely tied to the broader talks

That said the Trump administration has been keen to counter any perception that this concession amounts to a more general weakening of the Trump position. Speaking to Fox in the clip below, Director of the US National Economic Council Larry Kudlow didn’t really add much on Huawei, but made it clear that the move is part of a general process of horse-trading in which each party makes small, symbolic concessions to show good faith.