The Impact of China-US Trade Fight and Huawei and ZTE Bans on the Global Communications Equipment Supply Chain

To keep his campaign promise, Trump signed an executive memorandum to impose higher tariffs on Chinese goods imported into the United States in March 2018, involving large amounts and plenty of goods. In the first two rounds of tariffs, the US has imposed duties on a total of US$50 billion worth of Chinese goods, including semiconductor ICs, car parts, machinery, and equipment, including servers. And smartphones are likely to be on the list. The U.S. Department of Commerce imposed a denial order against ZTE on April 16, 2018, banning American businesses or individuals from selling high-tech components and technologies to the Chinese telecom equipment maker. Despite the ban has been expanded to Huawei, the G20 Summit seems to help ratchet down the trade fight between the US and China. This report provides a description of how this all began, a whole picture of these bans and tariffs, and how these have affected the global IT industry, especially in the communications sector; looks at some of the possible consequences if the fight continues.