Huawei News: White House Officials Rebuke Attorney General Barr’s Suggestion To Buy Ericsson, Nokia

Top Trump administration officials have rebuked comments by Attorney General William Barr, who suggested that the U.S. could buy a “controlling stake” in Nokia and Ericsson to combat Chinese telecommunication giant Huawei’s dominance in 5G wireless networks.

White House economic adviser Larry Kudlow said Friday that the U.S. is cooperating closely with Finland's Nokia and Sweden's Ericsson on the 5G issue but said the “U.S. government is not in the business of buying companies, whether they’re domestic or foreign.”

“Great respect to Attorney General Barr, but we believe the best way forward is what Ajit Pai announced just over the last several days,” Vice President Mike Pence told CNBC.

Pai, the chairman of the Federal Communications Commission (FCC), has recently proposed a $9.7 billion plan to clear more wireless spectrum for 5G use.

“That’s the plan the president has endorsed and will be carrying forward,” Pence continued.

The U.S. has been concerned with Huawei’s participation in 5G rollouts across the globe and considers Huawei’s presence in these networks to be a security threat. The Trump administration believes that Huawei could use 5G to steal confidential U.S. information and spy on American assets abroad.

Barr suggests that buying one of Huawei’s competitors could mitigate national security and economic concerns.

"There are only two companies that can compete with Huawei right now: Nokia and Ericsson," Barr said Friday. "Putting our large market and financial muscle behind one or both of these firms would make it a far more formidable competitor and eliminate concerns over its staying power."

The U.S. government has attempted to persuade other nations to not allow Huawei on their 5G networks.

American officials traveled to the U.K. in January to convince the British government to not allow Huawei to participate in its 5G rollout. British Prime Minister Boris Johnson had announced that the U.K. would allow for Huawei to have a “limited role” in its 5G network, a decision that drew a harsh response from Trump.

The anti-Huawei approach has been successful in some countries, with Poland signing a pact with the U.S. to tighten guidelines on its 5G network security.

The Trump administration implemented a blacklist against Huawei in May, banning U.S. firms from doing business with the Chinese telecommunications company. The company’s CFO, Meng Wanzhou, was arrested in Canada and is currently awaiting extradition to the U.S. on bank fraud charges.