China scored a major economic and foreign policy victory this week because of the Biden administration's mismanagement. Surprisingly, we're not talking about the catastrophe of Afghanistan. Although that looks to be playing out in a way that favors China, the Taliban's victory in Kabul was ten days ago.
This week's China triumph comes in the form of news that the Biden administration has reportedly approved license applications for Chinese telecom giant Huawei to purchase chips for its auto component business. Reuters reported the approvals, citing two unnamed sources. So our government is apparently secretly approving sales to Huawei, one of the national champions that is central to China's plan to dominate high tech manufacturing, in the midst of a global chip shortage that has hampered U.S. manufacturers of cars and appliances.
This also counts as another blow to U.S. credibility in the world. We have spent years trying to convince our allies to cut ties with Huawei. Canada is holding the company's former CFO, the daughter of its CEO and founder, under house arrest as she fights extradition to New York to face charges of bank fraud. How can we expect allies to continue to keep the heat on Huawei when we conveniently fold to help our chipmakers?
Meanwhile, we got more evidence of the U.S. economy slowing from the Atlanta Fed's survey of business uncertainty. While uncertainty declined in early August, so did expectations for sales growth. So businesses are more confident that they are going to sell less. On the upside, it appears that some of the tightness of the labor market is lifting as companies raised their expectations for hiring.
This week's China triumph comes in the form of news that the Biden administration has reportedly approved license applications for Chinese telecom giant Huawei to purchase chips for its auto component business. Reuters reported the approvals, citing two unnamed sources. So our government is apparently secretly approving sales to Huawei, one of the national champions that is central to China's plan to dominate high tech manufacturing, in the midst of a global chip shortage that has hampered U.S. manufacturers of cars and appliances.
This also counts as another blow to U.S. credibility in the world. We have spent years trying to convince our allies to cut ties with Huawei. Canada is holding the company's former CFO, the daughter of its CEO and founder, under house arrest as she fights extradition to New York to face charges of bank fraud. How can we expect allies to continue to keep the heat on Huawei when we conveniently fold to help our chipmakers?
Meanwhile, we got more evidence of the U.S. economy slowing from the Atlanta Fed's survey of business uncertainty. While uncertainty declined in early August, so did expectations for sales growth. So businesses are more confident that they are going to sell less. On the upside, it appears that some of the tightness of the labor market is lifting as companies raised their expectations for hiring.
