US Adds Rule to Allow Standards Collaboration With Huawei

The US Department of Commerce has made a new rule that will allow US companies to work with Huawei on wireless standards.

The US has been at odds with Huawei for some time, claiming it serves as a conduit for spying by Beijing. As a result, the US has banned Huawei and campaigned for its allies around the world to do the same. Meanwhile, US officials have continued to increase pressure on the company, restricting US companies from selling technology to Huawei, and working hard to strangle the Chinese firm’s access to semiconductor chips.

As VentureBeat reports, however, the restrictions against Huawei backfired in one important way. By putting the company on the so-called “entity list,” restricting US companies from selling technology to Huawei, it created an atmosphere were many companies and industry experts were afraid to engage with the company on any level.

Absent input from US engineers and technology leaders, Huawei’s voice on the world market ultimately became stronger. As a result, US officials added the new rule to expressly permit US companies to engage and work with Huawei on issues pertaining to standards development.

This latest change illustrates the challenges of going to war with a company as widely used and as dominant as Huawei.