In recent weeks, U.S. President Donald Trump has drawn the ire of security hawks in Congress for suggesting he could trade away his blacklisting of Huawei Technologies Co. to secure a trade deal with China.
On Saturday he took a big step toward doing just that, signaling that he cares more about selling U.S. products to China than embarking on a clash of civilizations advocated by some top advisers. In the long run, those business instincts may say more about where U.S.-China ties are headed than his deal with Chinese President Xi Jinping to suspend any new tariffs and resume trade talks.
Trump's move last month to cut off supplies to Huawei, one of China's most celebrated companies, marked a major escalation in his confrontation with Beijing after he raised tariffs following a collapse in trade talks. Putting the company on a Commerce Department "entity list" normally reserved for rogue regimes and affiliated businesses was seen as the latest sign the U.S. and China were tumbling into a new technological cold war.
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