Donald Trump Declares National Emergency due to Telecoms Threat

An executive order has been signed by president Donald Trump which declares National Emergency in the United States over telecoms threat. The order bares US companies to use telecoms equipment. It also paves a way for banning China’s Huawei Technologies Co in the United States of America. Donald Trump has the authority, due to the International Emergency Economic Powers Act, to regulate the commerce in response to the security threat.

Wilbur Ross, the Commerce Secretary, said, “the order aims to protect the supply chain from foreign advisories to the Nations services supply chain”. He added, “Our data and infrastructure are safe and secure under the leadership of Donald Trump”. This order, however, does not specify any company or country. US officials have, previously, labelled Huawei as a real threat to the United States of America.

This executive order comes at a delicate time in terms of the relation between China and America. The world’s largest economies are battling hard in the trade market. America has a clear perspective that China’s trade practices are unfair. However, talks between Washington and Shanghai are under way and there is a fear of global trade war.

There is a meeting expected between Trump and Jinping in the next month in Japan. US officials believe that the equipment made by Huawei could be used as Chinese spy to US. Huawei has denied the allegations in its press release. Ren Zhengfei, CEO of Huawei, said in an interview, “Huawei would deny any intelligence service through its product even if it gets an offer from China”.

Huawei did not respond to the executive order immediately. Sarah Sanders, Press Secretary of White House, said, “The order aims to stop the transactions which are against the security of the United States of America”. US officials are pushing other countries to stop using Huawei equipment in their telecommunication networks.