Huawei warns Trump over 'Made in US' plans www.asia.nikkei.com
LAS VEGAS -- U.S. President-elect Donald Trump may think 'Made in America' is great, but China's leading smartphone maker Huawei Technologies certainly does not think so.
American companies have actually benefited from the low-cost manufacturing China has provided over the years, said Huawei chief executive for consumer business group Richard Yu. His comments came after his keynote speech at the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas on Thursday.
The U.S. now generates more "high-end, high-tech" jobs, and bringing low-cost manufacturing back to the U.S. may only lead companies to risk losing money, he said.
"If [companies] move all manufacturing to the U.S., some manufacturing is not good for U.S. companies, because costs will likely increase," Yu said. "If you move all that [low-cost] manufacturing to the U.S., you'll damage the U.S."
Yu's statement came as the world's third-biggest smartphone brand, shipping around 100 million handsets annually, is trying to establish its foothold in the U.S. At the same time, Trump is pushing U.S. companies and even foreign ones selling in the American market to manufacture locally.
Huawei introduced its premium $599.99 M9 handset at the CES. It is the first time that the Chinese smartphone company will make a flagship model generally available in the U.S.
Yu said that while his companies does not have plans to set up manufacturing operations in the U.S., it has already opened several research and development centers there, including offices in San Diego, San Francisco and Seattle.
Rising tensions
Huawei also said that the company procures more than $8 billion worth of components from the U.S. annually.
Huawei relies on key iPhone maker Hon Hai Precision Industry -- known as Foxconn Technology Group -- Singapore-based Flex, and China's own BYD for smartphone assembly.
Published Date:2017-01-06