Google warns Washington that Huawei trade ban risks compromising US security: report

The American tech giant said the US ban may prompt Huawei to build an Android alternative that is more vulnerable to hacking

Huawei

Bloomberg

Published: 6:55pm, 7 Jun 2019

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Google has warned the Trump administration that it risks compromising US national security if it goes ahead with export restrictions on Huawei Technologies, and has asked to be exempted from any ban, according to a Financial Times report that cited three people briefed on the conversations.

Senior executives at the US-based technology giant have warned it would not be able to update its Android operating system on Huawei’s smartphones, prompting the Chinese company to develop its own version of the software, the report said. A Huawei-modified version of Android, Google argued, could then be more vulnerable to hacking risks.

The Trump administration put Huawei, the world’s largest telecommunications equipment provider, in a trade blacklist last month in a policy move that will prevent the company from buying semiconductors, software and other components from American hi-tech suppliers.

The US government has depicted Huawei as a security risk, warning other economies that 5G network equipment supplied by the company to telecoms network operators around the world could be compromised to aid espionage and surveillance by Beijing.

Facebook suspends app pre-installs on new Huawei phones as US trade blacklist effects begin to ripple

The US Commerce Department decision to restrict Huawei and 68 of its affiliates from purchasing American technology jeopardises the Shenzhen-based company’s network equipment and smartphone businesses. Under the order, US suppliers are able to appeal for special approval to continue selling to Huawei.

This week, Huawei chairman Liang Hua told a small group of American reporters visiting the company’s China operations that Google is working with the Commerce Department to find a solution. He said it would benefit consumers if Google and the US government can work out a solution.

“In the short term there is some impact on our business,” Liang said. “In the long term, we will have to develop our own operating system and ecosystem.”

He said Huawei is not negotiating directly with the US government and is waiting to see how the Google talks evolve. Huawei has said it that if the company has to develop an alternative operating system it could do so “very quickly”.

Such a scenario presents several risks for Google. If Huawei develops its own version of Android, the search giant would have no control so it cannot manage security upgrades or reap the consumer data that makes its services useful and fuels advertising revenue.

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