Japanese companies have responded to pressure from U.S. sanctions on Huawei, with electronics company Panasonic planning to suspend the provision of some components to the Chinese technology giant.
Panasonic said in a short statement on Thursday “that it should suspend transaction with Huawei and its 68 affiliates
that were banned by the U.S. government.”
Panasonic is now examining which products could be subject to U.S. sanctions.
Japanese mobile operators have also put the sale of new Huawei devices on hold or do not want to accept new orders out of concern that Google could no longer provide services such as Android to the Chinese company.
Tokyo’s stock market slumped on Thursday amid concerns over the impact of the Huawei sanctions on Japanese suppliers.
The Nikkei index for 225 leading stocks lost 0.6 per cent of its value to reach 21,151.14 points.
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The U.S. last week placed Huawei on a blacklist of companies whose business relationships with U.S. partners are tightly controlled.
U.S. President Donald Trump justified his steps with security concerns about technology from China.
The accusation is that the Chinese government could gain access to data on Huawei devices, a claim Huawei rejects.
Since the allegations have not yet been substantiated, many experts see the sanctions in the context of the ongoing trade conflict between the U.S. and China.
Anyone who wants to sell or transfer U.S. technology to Huawei now has to acquire a licence, which can be denied over security concerns.
In 2018, Huawei received 6 billion dollars’ worth of components from Japanese companies such as Panasonic. (NAN)
