the United States will reconsider its restrictions for American companies doing business with the Chinese company Huawei to enable them to work together to establish standards for next generation networks 5G, according to Reuters.
the U.S. Department of Commerce and other agencies signed an agreement about changing the rules on Thursday it will be published in the Federal register.
the Amendments are aimed at ensuring the “full participation” of American companies in a voluntary setting bodies standards are a response to the concerns of U.S. companies and lawmakers.
U.S. Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross in a statement to Reuters said that the U.S. is not going to cede leadership in global innovation.
“the Ministry is committed to the protection of national security and foreign policy interests of the United States, encouraging American industry to fully participate and establish American technologies as international standards,” said Wilbur Ross.
Minister of Commerce of the United States noted that the US participation in standards development “impact on the future of 5G, Autonomous vehicles, artificial intelligence and other advanced technologies.”
Why is standardization important? Worldwide high-tech as the entire industry has standards that define how technologies work and provides functional compatibility with devices around the world. A good example is the telecommunication industry. Many of the devices in the networks of the fifth generation (5G) need to understand each other. Technical standards are created through collaboration between industry bodies, experts and companies.
These technical specifications are accepted and integrated into what later becomes an industry standard. Adherence to standards improves the efficiency of network deployment and to provide their work regardless of the location.
the Largest U.S. and European technology companies such as Qualcomm and Ericsson, often set standards in various industries, but in the last few years, China is playing an increasingly active role.
In the telecommunications industry, it is expected that 5G or wireless networks of the fifth generation will “feed” everything from streaming video to self-driving cars.
Industry and government officials said that the rule change should not be seen as a sign of the weakening of U.S. sanctions against Huawei, the world’s largest manufacturer of telecommunications equipment.
According to them, the introduction of Huawei in the “black list” put US at a disadvantage in terms of setting standards, when companies are developing specifications that allow equipment from different companies to function together.
At a time when US companies are not sure what technology or information they are allowed to share, many American companies have reduced their participation in discussions on setting standards that gave Huawei’s advantage in the polls.
“the Confusion that arose in connection with the list of legal entities in may of 2019, accidentally drove the American company to the curb some conversations about technical standards, putting them in a strategically disadvantageous position,” said Naomi Wilson, senior policy Director in Asia of the Council for the it industry, which represents companies including Amazon, Qualcomm and Intel.
the Amendment “will provide substantial assistance to U.S. companies, preserving the leadership in the groups according to international standards, without prejudice to the objectives of the government in relation to Huawei,” said Washington trade lawyer Kevin wolf (Kevin Wolf).
