Huawei Says US Controls Have Little Effect

The founder of Chinese technology company Huawei said the United States' restriction on sales will have little effect on the company. He added that Huawei is discussing "emergency relief" from Google for possible loss of services for its smartphone business.

Ren Zhengfei told Chinese state broadcaster CGTV, "The U.S. government's actions at the moment underestimate our capabilities." He said Huawei has "supply backups" if it cannot buy American parts.

Last week, the U.S. ordered the ban, and said Huawei was a security risk. American officials claimed Huawei would give information it collects to the Chinese government. Huawei has denied the accusation.

Huawei is the world's second-largest maker of smartphones behind Korea's Samsung. It has developed its own chips for some smartphones and other products. But it depends on Google's Android operating system and American suppliers for more advanced parts for its products.

Loss of Google services

Google said it would continue to support existing Huawei smartphones but that future devices would not have some apps and services, including maps, Gmail and search.

Ren admitted that the loss of Google's services "will be very big." He added, "We are discussing emergency relief measures."

On Monday, U.S. officials gave Huawei a permit to buy U.S. goods until August 19. The move is meant to give American businesses that use Huawei products some more time to make other plans.

A Chinese foreign ministry spokesman accused the United States of misusing "state power" to hurt foreign companies and interfere with the marketplace.

In 2012, Huawei's U.S. sales collapsed after a congressional panel told businesses to avoid its products and those from another Chinese company, ZTE.

However, Huawei's sales around the world rose quickly. Its smartphone shipments rose 50 percent compared to a year earlier in the first three months of 2019. At the same time, shipments from both Samsung and third-ranked Apple have fallen.

The U.S. order could hurt Huawei's business by limiting access to parts and services everywhere -- not just in the U.S. market.

The U.S. has also tried to urge its allies to avoid Huawei as a supplier of fifth-generation (5G) technology. Australia and Taiwan have set limits on Huawei technology, but Germany, France and Britain still do business with the company.

I'm Ashley Thompson.

Hai Do adapted this story for Learning English based on Associated Press and Reuters news reports. Ashley Thompson was the editor.

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Words in This Story

capability - n. the ability to do something

access - n. permission or right to enter, get, or make use of something