US President Donald Trump is looking to require next-generation 5G cellular equipment used in the United States to be designed and manufactured outside China, The Wall Street Journal reported on Sunday, citing people familiar with the matter.
As part of an executive order last month to ban some foreign-made networking gear and services due to security concerns, U.S. officials are asking telecom-equipment manufacturers whether they can make and develop U.S.-bound hardware outside of China, the Journal reported, citing the people.
The White House has declined to comment.
Whether or not there’s any justification for such a cautious approach, the rationale would be clear. There have been fears that the Chinese government might ask factories and suppliers to insert surveillance code and backdoors into American networking hardware, giving it a chance to spy on American infrastructure, government bodies and individuals. There’s no known evidence this is happening so far, but some aren’t willing to take chances companies like Super Micro have moved production outside of China precisely to reassure wary customers.
The report on a provocative step against China comes days before President Donald Trump is expected to meet Chinese President Xi Jinping in Osaka, Japan, at the Group of 20 summit, where the pair discuss ways to restart stalled talks on a trade agreement.
