USA: national emergency over IT threats

Written by David Fletcher 16 May 2019
USA: national emergency over IT threats

President Trump has declared a national emergency to protect US computer networks from ‘foreign adversaries’. He has barred US companies from using foreign telecoms believed to pose national security risks. The order does not name any company, but is believed to target Huawei, who said that restricting its business in the US would only hurt American consumers and companies. The move is likely to worsen tensions between the US and China, which escalated this week with tariff hikes in a trade war. Huawei may not need the US market, but it certainly needs the key components that it gets from the US. On 14 May, Huawei’s chairman said that Huawei was ‘willing to sign no-spy agreements with governments’, as concerns over the security of its products used in mobile networks continues to grow. See also article 6 in the UK section.

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