Trump Supply Chain Security Order Seen Dead for Now as 5G Moves Forward
A Trump administration supply chain security executive order addressing use of telecom equipment by Chinese equipment makers Huawei and ZTE in U.S. networks appears to be off the table, at least for now, experts said. The administration apparently is concerned about questions by small carriers that have equipment from two providers embedded in their networks. The FCC also hasn't acted.
Sign up for a free preview to unlock the rest of this article
Communications Daily is required reading for senior executives at top telecom corporations, law firms, lobbying organizations, associations and government agencies (including the FCC). Join them today!
The order is “still something people are thinking about,” said Jim Lewis, Center for Strategic and International Studies senior vice president. “One of the big obstacles is cost. The big telcos generally don’t have Huawei, it’s the local carriers. Just telling them ‘rip it out,’ they can’t afford it.” Smaller carriers need options, Lewis said. “Do you do it over a rolling period of time?” he asked. “Do you grandfather some equipment? Do you give them subsidies? I think all of that is still being worked out.”
In February, President Donald Trump tweeted (see 1902210057) that the U.S. must be first to 5G and should “win through competition, not by blocking out currently more advanced technologies.” In December, reports surfaced that Trump would sign an executive order barring U.S. companies from using Huawei and ZTE telecom equipment on national security grounds. The FCC is reviewing what it could do to counter the threat from companies that are a security threat to U.S. communications networks or the communications supply chain (see 1812210032). The FCC and the White House didn’t comment.
The administration’s broader 5G policy is “in play,” Lewis said. “It’s linked to global political concerns. You might see a package of measures or at least a common approach in April or May. We’ve all given up on waiting for this executive order. I’m not sure we even need it anymore.”
“The idea that the U.S. can just confine its work on 5G to keeping Huawei out of networks as a strategy going forward … is really untenable,” said Robert Spalding, senior fellow at the Hudson Institute. “There’s a realization that just say, 'No way, Huawei,’ is insufficient for a strategy, won’t actually achieve our national interests.”
Trump “has described his desire to dominate in this area,” Spalding said. “So far, the administration, the departments and agencies, haven’t come up with a path forward.” Hudson hosts a discussion Tuesday on how the U.S. can maintain a competitive edge in 5G.
If the FCC bars using USF funds to buy Chinese equipment, “rural buildout will be either a lot slower or a lot more expensive,” said Roger Entner, analyst at Recon Analytics. If regulators don’t act here, they “undermine” their argument that the Chinese vendors pose a national security risk, he said. “Are Americans in rural America less deserving of security than those in urban America?"
New Street’s Blair Levin noted the EU rejected U.S. efforts to get it to black list Huawei. “That could be the problem, but it could be the administration cares more rural broadband bills than national security,” Levin said.
“There are still concerns about the campaign to nationalize 5G that is apparently being promoted” by ex-House Speaker Newt Gingrich, R-Ga., said American Enterprise Institute Fellow Shane Tews. “I was at a meeting last week with a NATO member who sees it as more important to be an ally of the U.S. than China, which is using the 5G issues to show … alliance with us.”