As the trade and tariff standoff simmers between the US and China, a divide is growing over the geopolitics of technology, and in particular, over one company: Huawei Technologies Co Ltd.
On Monday, Alphabet's Google began limiting software services to Huawei after the White House last week ordered restrictions on the Chinese company's access to American technology.
The move sent ripples through international markets, and on Monday it also drove down stock prices of US semiconductor companies that sell chips to Huawei.
The US Commerce Department said on Wednesday that it would put Huawei on the "Entity List", which prohibits US firms from selling it technology without government approval. The department has accused Huawei of acting "contrary to US national security or foreign policy interest".
US Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross said that the sanctions on Huawei are not related to the trade dispute and could eventually be rescinded.
Chipmakers including Intel Corp, Qualcomm Inc, Xilinx Inc and Broadcom Inc have announced that they will not supply critical software and components to Huawei for now.
Huawei's smartphones use Google's Android mobile operating system — as do pretty much all smartphones with the exception of Apple's iPhones.
