The US attorney-general has suggested the US buy controlling stakes in Ericsson and Nokia to help build a stronger international competitor to Huawei, the Chinese telecoms equipment maker viewed by Washington as a national security threat.
William Barr said on Thursday the US and its allies should be “actively considering” proposals for “American ownership of a controlling stake” in the European companies, “either directly or through a consortium of private American and allied companies”.
The remarks at a conference in Washington DC showed the radical steps the Trump administration is willing to consider in its efforts to weaken Huawei’s market power. The Chinese company currently sells just under a third of the world’s telecoms equipment.