Donald Trump says Huawei could ‘possibly be included’ in deal to end trade war
- US president calls Chinese telecoms giant ‘very dangerous’
- Washington placed Huawei on a blacklist last week, and the company faces multiple indictments over alleged economic espionage
Huawei Technologies could be included in a trade deal between the United States and China, US President Donald Trump said on Thursday, adding there was “probably a good possibility” the two sides would ultimately be able to strike an agreement.
The US government put the Chinese telecommunications giant on an entities blacklist last week, and the company is facing multiple indictments by the Department of Justice over alleged economic espionage and violation of US sanctions on Iran.
“Huawei is something that’s very dangerous,” Trump said at the White House after speaking about his plan to give a multibillion-dollar subsidy package to American farmers. “You look at what they’ve done from a security standpoint, from a military standpoint, it’s very dangerous.”
But running counter to previous statements by some members of his trade delegation – including US Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer, who has sought to keep trade and national security matters separate during the negotiations – Trump then said, “If we made a deal, I could imagine Huawei possibly being included in some form of or some part of a trade deal.”
After the arrest in Canada of Huawei executive Meng Wanzhou at the US’ request in December, Lighthizer took to national television to say her case was “a criminal justice matter”, telling CBS that it was “totally separate from anything I work on or anything that trade policy people in the administration work on”.
When asked on Thursday what the inclusion of provisions on Huawei in a trade deal would look like, Trump said only that “it would look very good for us”. He declined to offer details, but said: “It’s too early to say.”