Huawei is at the forefront of the trade war between the United States and China. This is confirmed, Thursday, May 23, Donald Trump at a press conference, considering the world number two smartphones as "very dangerous".

"When you look at what they did from a security point of view, from a military point of view, very dangerous, but Huawei may be included in a trade agreement. I see Huawei included in one way or another, "said the US president.

In the midst of the Sino-US trade war, the Trump administration has placed Huawei on a list of suspicious companies that are banned from selling technology equipment for fear that Beijing will use it for espionage purposes. And in this standoff is the very survival of the Chinese group: Huawei depends largely on its phones chips manufactured in the United States.

Pushed by a journalist to give more details on how the Chinese group could be integrated into already difficult negotiations, Donald Trump remained very evasive: "It is too early to say, we are very worried [the risk that presents ] Huawei from the point of view of security ".

For the moment, the two files had been kept separate while US intelligence services and diplomats have been trying for many months to convince their main partners not to work with the Chinese group.

The head of the American diplomacy, Mike Pompeo, had expressed Thursday morning still the hope "that these two questions [Huawei and the trade] remain separated", after the Chinese government threatened to freeze the trade negotiations if the Americans did not no proof of "sincerity".

A law to protect the US 5G network

In an interview with CNBC, Mike Pompeo remained hopeful of finding a trade deal with China while accusing Huawei of lying about his ties to the Chinese government. "Huawei's CEO does not tell the truth to the American people or the world [when he says he has no connection with the government]," he said, citing the Chinese law that he said forces the country's companies to collaborate with the authorities.

At the same time, US officials from both sides have proposed legislation to protect the future US 5G network of the Chinese manufacturer. This law must prevent "companies that receive instructions from a foreign opponent from infiltrating our national communications network," said Mark Warner, a Democratic senator.

Earlier, Beijing had raised its voice by announcing a "solemn protest" to Washington. And Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi denounced Wednesday an "economic harassment [intended to] hinder the development [of his country]." He promised that Beijing would fight "to the end".

Despite Washington's reluctance to cut Huawei's access to US technology, several groups have preferred to take the lead in the face of uncertainties over the products of the Chinese telecom giant.

Several major groups break their ties with Huawei

The Japanese electronics giant Panasonic has joined Thursday the list of major technology groups having announced a break of some links with the Chinese and its 68 subsidiaries. This concerns Panasonic products manufactured completely or partially in the United States, but the volume is low and the impact limited, told AFP a source close to the group.

Toshiba announced the suspension of its deliveries to Huawei to verify that its products did not include components "made in USA". On Wednesday already, major Japanese (KDDI, Softbank) and British (Vodafone, EE) operators have announced a postponement of the launch of new models of the Chinese group, these devices may lose much of their interest without the contribution of US technologies.

Could be added to the list another British, ARM. The group, which designs semiconductors used by the entire telecom industry, said it was implementing the Washington directive.

Venezuela's support

On Sunday, Google had given the the saying that its Android operating system, present in the vast majority of phones in the world, would no longer equip the future smartphones Huawei. In response, the latter is working on its own competing system, HongMeng, which could be ready in China before the end of the year, according to Richard Yu, a senior official of Huawei quoted by CNBC.

Internationally, the system would be available early next year, according to the same source.

Renewed tensions weighed heavily on markets in Asia and the United States. The International Monetary Fund once again warned of the negative consequences of the trade war between the world's two leading economies for growth.

Beijing, however, can still count on its Venezuelan ally: President Nicolas Maduro has criticized on public television the "terrible aggression" on behalf of Donald Trump, and announced having ordered "an immediate investment [in] the technology of Huawei, ZTE and all Chinese and Russian companies, so that we can raise our [Internet connection] capabilities. " Without further details.

With AFP