Chip‑makers Quietly Squeezing the U.S. into a Looser Grip on Huawei
When the U.S. slapped a hard ban on shipping parts to China’s biggest telecom boss, Huawei, a handful of American silicon giants—think Qualcomm, Intel, and Xilinx—quietly nudged the Commerce Department to soften the clampdown. They’re doing this without playing the nerdy lobby‑game Huawei usually avoids.
Crunching Numbers While Playing Tetris
- In 2018, Huawei shelled out a whopping US$70 billion ($11 billion to U.S. companies alone).
- Two friends of the companies say the chip heavyweights are more worried about American corporate survival than actually helping Huawei.
The blockade means U.S. suppliers need special approval before selling to Huawei—a move the government justifies on “national‑security” grounds.
What the Hammer Hit: Huawei vs. the 5G Viper
Chip players reckon the parts used in Huawei’s phones and servers are “just everyday stuff.” They argue these ordinary gray‑market goodies don’t carry the same espionage risk as Huawei’s costly 5G gear. “We’re not here to boost Huawei,’’ one insider joked, “we’re here to keep our own ships from sinking.”
Why the Silicon Backers are Beside Barefaced Policy
- Market Fear – Drop a customer of this magnitude, and you risk a stock plunge. The irony? Their leg‑dayning client also faces a serious U.S. ban.
- Rapport with the Commission – The Semiconductor Industry Association (SIA) has been at the table, pushing that non‑security tech shouldn’t be dragged into the ban, a stance that apparently calmed the federal wolves.
- Partial Flexibility – Qualcomm, for instance, wants to keep chipping out phones & smart‑watches for Huawei. The big chip company both wishes for the cheap sales and penned a letter to Commerce the same day the ban went live.
Where Google’s in the Mix
Google’s hardware arm—running on Google, the private brother of Alphabet—saw a chance to still sell to Huawei. They reached out to Commerce to stay on the compliant list, while Huawei’s leader, Liang Hua, told reporters that corporate America’s majors should see the “balance” between trade and treachery.
Discord Between the Two Worlds
Intentionally, Intelligent, Xilinx and Qualcomm stayed tight‑lipped. Huawei’s public affairs VP, Andrew Williamson, in a rousing keynote said “no one was lobbying on Huawei’s behalf.”
But chip makers ad‑up that cutting Huawei from the market would have catastrophic fallout for them. Even as Huawei withdrew its lobbying muscle—shedding five Washington staff, slashing money spent on Capitol Hill—the company is launching a legal fight and pushing a PR blitz to soften its western image.
The Sting in the Trade‑Tension Fallout
Broadcom, a not‑whisper‑lobbying heavyweight, waved a warning that do will make two billion dollars vanish from its sales because of the U.S.–China spat and the Huawei ban. That’s the kind of ripple effect lawmakers and execs can feel on their fingers.
Back‑to‑Back Bargains
Just six days after the original ban, Commerce whispered “temporary general license” to allow Huawei to keep ordering U.S. goods, so servers and networks stay humming. And that opens a window where Huawei might circumvent the halt, but the U.S. still holds the rock‑on‑the‑table.
Bottom Line
In a world where one side keeps tightening screws on an entire industry, the chip splurge’s deep moral and financial tug‑of‑war is no longer about spying or fraud—more about – who keeps the products flowing when the government goes hard and hardware hunger floats above corporate loyalty.
