US officials ask for delay to Huawei ban on competition grounds – report

Deputy Director of the Office of Management and Budget Russell Vought has requested the ban on Huawei technologies be delayed by two years, sounding very similar to Huawei’s own argument.

In a letter to the White House, Vought is arguing the ban should be delayed in certain areas to ensure national security considerations and objectives can be suitably met in the new procurement landscape. Vought is currently on the clock, as rules signed into law last year are to be officially introduced in 2020. These laws would place a ban on any government funds being used to purchase Huawei products, services or components.

The issue which is currently being faced is in the procurement functions. Vought is suggesting the ban has been rushed in and would significantly reduce the number of vendors available for government agencies to work with. Interestingly enough, this is remarkably similar to the argument Huawei has been using to counter the ban. Of course, this reference would certainly not be made by the White House.

Plenty of arguments have been put forward by the under-fire Chinese firm, most recently there has been a challenge to the constitutional legitimacy of the rules, though the competition claim is one which was made back in October 2018.

At the time, Huawei suggested that banning its technologies and services in the US could hand control of the global 5G economy over to China. In a filing to the FCC, Huawei suggested the price and speed of infrastructure deployment would be impacted as competition would be reduced. This is quite a reasonable point to make as this segment of the telecom’s world is incredibly short on tier-one suppliers, or at least those which can match the quality of equipment provided and the support services which follow.

The letter from Vought is not making the exact same point, but the principle is very similar. Too many contractors rely on Huawei in their own supply chain, therefore banning Huawei would prevent any government agencies from working with these vendors. This would decrease competition for valuable contracts, potentially pushing up the price while lowering the quality of service offered.

Although the US has made its stance against China and Huawei very clear, the White House has shown on numerous occasions it is willing to be flexible with its own principles if it suits its own agenda. President Donald Trump attempted to reverse the ban on ZTE last year, once it had achieved its aims, only to face opposition in the House.

It would appear the national security argument can once again be ignored if there is too much pain is experienced by federal agencies. There seems to be little concern of the impact to private industry, see the complaints from rural telcos or those organizations where Huawei is an important customer, with these companies little more than pawns ready for sacrifice.

Perhaps we should be surprised at the consistency of hypocrisy coming out of the White House, but such are the lowly levels standards are currently being set, we are not.