Trump, U.K.’s May to Discuss Huawei as U.S. Urges Ban From 5G Networks

(Bloomberg) -- U.S. President Donald Trump and U.K. Prime Minister Theresa May plan to discuss China's Huawei Technologies Co. during his state visit to London next week, a U.K. official said, as the U.S. seeks to convince allies in Europe to exclude the telecom giant from 5G networks.

The U.K. has not yet made a decision on whether to follow the U.S., which put Huawei on a blacklist earlier this month, arguing that China's government could use it for espionage or to disrupt critical infrastructure. The U.S. has threatened to shut allies out of its key intelligence-sharing arrangement if they install the Chinese equipment. The Huawei -discussion is scheduled for June 4.

During the visit, which begins June 3, Trump and May also plan to discuss China, Iran, the Mideast, Russia and Syria, said the official, who briefed reporters on the plans on condition of anonymity.

U.K. Home Secretary Sajid Javid has signaled the U.K. may take a tougher stance with Huawei than its European allies. But in February, the head of the U.K.'s foreign-intelligence agency gave the strongest hint yet that he will not press for an outright ban on Chinese telecom giant. The decision has been controversial: May fired her defense secretary over leaks of the U.K.'s stance.

The Trump administration is seeking to choke off Beijing's access to key technologies by limiting the sale of vital U.S. components to Huawei.

Read More: Pompeo Boosts Huawei Warning With Threat to Limit Intelligence

U.S. Vice President Mike Pence, appearing at a news conference in Ottawa, where he held meetings with Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, said the U.S. has been clear with its allies about Huawei.

“We consider Huawei incompatible with the security interests of the United States of America or our allies in freedom-loving nations across the world,” Pence said Thursday. “We've urged our partners in Europe, we continue to urge Canada in this regard, and we continue to have that dialogue.”

The U.S. had held off on blacklisting Huawei out of concern the move could disrupt trade negotiations with China and only took action after the last round of trade talks hit an impasse this month, according to people familiar with the matter. The decision to curtail the Shenzhen-based company's access to American suppliers unfolded quickly once trade talks broke down, the people said.

Read More: Huawei Is a Huge Challenge for Europe's Spies -- Lionel Laurent

The U.S. Commerce Department action last week requires American suppliers of Huawei, a crown jewel of Chinese manufacturing, to seek U.S. government permission to do business with the company.

To contact the reporters on this story: Margaret Talev in Washington at mtalev@bloomberg.net;Josh Wingrove in Ottawa at jwingrove4@bloomberg.net

To contact the editors responsible for this story: Alex Wayne at awayne3@bloomberg.net, Justin Blum, Joshua Gallu

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