Now that Joe Biden has been elected as president of the United States he will have to face the issue of Trump’s ban on Huawei and TikTok: what could change
Joe Biden has been elected the 46th president of the United States and from January 2021 he will officially take office in place of Donald Trump. The new 77-year-old president will face some issues left open by the previous administration, including the ban on Huawei, TikTok and other companies that ended up on the black list.
For Biden, the security of American citizens is also at the first place, but the new tenant of the White House may have a less restrictive view than the outgoing President Trump, who made his fight against Chinese companies an important part of the program. Some are now wondering if Huawei, which is heavily penalized in sourcing components to make its smartphones, will find more openness in Biden. Moreover, with the ban of TikTok becoming official from November 12, some could expect a future rehabilitation of the social network of the Chinese company ByteDance.
Banning of TikTok: Biden’s line
During the campaign that brought the Democratic candidate Biden to win the election against Trump, there was no official talk of a rehabilitation of TikTok, which from November 12 will be subject to the limitations due to the tycoon’s ban.
Biden’s position could therefore be softer towards ByteDance, with the opening of a negotiation table, but it must be remembered that the new president during his election campaign had prohibited members of his staff from using TikTok due to security issues.
Will Huawei be rehabilitated?
The position of the Chinese company Huawei also remains suspended with Biden’s election to the White House. The company that came into Trump’s crosshairs and ended up on Washington’s trade blacklist in recent years has had to give up its Android operating system, developing its HarmonyOS, and has had trouble sourcing components and processors due to the ban on business with U.S. companies.
Biden has not yet commented on the issue, but meanwhile Huawei continues to pay the price of the ban. The Chinese company sold the low-cost Honor brand to a consortium formed by Digital China and the Shenzen city government for $15.2 billion, perhaps a sign that Huawei doesn’t believe the situation will quickly improve with Biden as president.