US President Donald Trump on Saturday suggested that his administration is willing to ease sanctions on Chinese tech giant Huawei. The move that was praised by chip makers, but came under fire from lawmakers on both sides of the aisle.
Republican Senator Marco Rubio spoke of a “catastrophic mistake” by Trump if he would “bargain away” the measures against Huawei, while Democratic Senator Chuck Schumer warned that the suggested policy change would “dramatically undercut” the ability of the US to tackle China’s “unfair trade practices.”
In May of this year, Trump declared a national emergency over telecom threats, thereby enabling the US government to extend its ban on Huawei technology to the private sector. The Trump administration has justified the measure by arguing that Huawei products represent a security threat, since the firm may provide the Chinese government with access to its data and systems, which would enable Beijing to spy on US companies. Both Huawei and the Chinese government have consistently denied allegations of cyber espionage.
Read more: Huawei sanctions relief draws criticism from US lawmakers
