Trump’s blacklisting of Huawei is unfair and un-American, Microsoft president says
- Microsoft’s Brad Smith warns Washington’s trade restrictions could expand beyond Huawei, threatening the US firm’s global competitiveness
The Trump administration’s trade ban on Huawei Technologies is unfair and un-American, a senior Microsoft Corp executive said, as the international operations of the world’s leading hi-tech companies are caught in the cross hairs of the escalating US-China trade war.
Software giant Microsoft has kept asking US authorities to clarify the basis of that trade ban, but Smith said: “Oftentimes, what we get in response is, ‘Well, if you knew what we knew, you would agree with us’.”
Microsoft’s reply to that was to suggest more transparency, according to Smith. “Great, show us what you know so we can decide for ourselves. That’s the way this country works,” he said.
“Brad was talking about the need for countries to use consistent principles before imposing significant sanctions on any company, and that those principles should be grounded in due process, the rule of law and transparency of approach,” a Microsoft spokeswoman told the Post in response to the Bloomberg article.