Huawei under Pressure: Chile concerned over impact of US ban on Chinese tech giant

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02:34

The escalating trade war continues to affect countries all over the world. This time spreading to South America. New restrictions on Huawei are raising concerns in Chile. Joel Richards has the details from Santiago.

In downtown Santiago, 37-year-old construction worker Cristian checks his emails during a break.

"It seemed a really complete phone, with good apps and a good camera, but now I'm not sure about the phone."

Cristian is one of the millions of users around the world worried by United States restrictions placed on Huawei. This week, Huawei Chile assured its clients that their phones will continue to operate normally. But phones, tablets and computers are just part of the company's portfolio here.

JOEL RICHARDS SANTIAGO "In April, Huawei announced that it plans to invest more than 100 million dollars over the coming years here in Chile to develop the 'Huawei cloud' services designed not only for this country but also neighboring countries in the region, which points to Huawei's growing presence in South America."

Work is already underway on laying a fiber optic cable that will improve communications in the remote and sparsely-populated south of Chile. At Asimov Consultancy in Santiago, Nicolas Silva says telecommunications infrastructure makes up roughly half of Huawei's business interests in this country.

NICOLAS SILVA ASIMOV CONSULTANCY "We are seeing Chile aim to become the central hub for Latin America. So digital connections with the United States, as well as Asia and China, will reach Chile via sea and from there it will be distributed across Latin America."

Huawei dominated conversations during President Sebastian Pinera's recent visit to China for the Belt and Road Forum, which followed shortly after US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo's visit to Santiago. Economist Osvaldo Rosales has written a book on China. He says the escalating trade war is a concern for Chile.

OSVALDO ROSALES ECONOMIST "The most important (impact) is the probable impact on exports. Because being China our main trade partner, each point of variation in China's GDP may impact on Chilean export of fruit, salmon, wine, copper."

Future telecommunications projects in Chile include implementing 5G and a cross-Pacific fiber optic cable connecting South America to Asia. It remains unclear how trade restrictions will affect the role Huawei plays in those projects. Joel Richards, CGTN, Santiago.