Microsoft president sides with Huawei in battle with US

While Huawei is still battling with the US ban, it has found some comforting words from its long term ally, Microsoft. The company’s president and Chief Legal Officer, Brad Smith, told Bloomberg Businessweek in an interview the Chinese company is being treated in an un-American way by President Trump.

Smith said the ban shouldn’t have taken place without “sound basis in fact, logic, and the rule of law.” He added that Microsoft has asked the US authorities to explain the reasons for the ban.

In May, Huawei was included in the US entity list resulting in bans from leading US companies such as Google, Intel, and Qualcomm. That meant the company can’t use products such as Qualcomm’s chips or Google’s services including Android for its upcoming products.

While the Chinese tech giant has had two 90-day extensions from the US authorities, it won’t be able to deal with these companies under temporary license for new products. Huawei’s upcoming Mate 30 Pro will launch without Google apps too.

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In June, Trump said Huawei can resume trade with the US companies in areas which are not in concern with national security, but the exact scope of that announcement isn’t yet clear.

Smith said Trump should know better having worked in the hotel industry:

To tell a tech company that it can sell products, but not buy an operating system or chips, is like telling a hotel company that it can open its doors, but not put beds in its hotel rooms or food in its restaurant. Either way, you put the survival of that company at risk.

Huawei has been a long-term partner of Microsoft in multiple areas of technology. However, no other tech organization has been really vocal about supporting the Chinese tech company. At least someone’s speaking now.