Several members of Boris Johnson’s Tory Party didn’t like the prime minister’s decision to let Huawei build parts of the UK’s 5G cellular network. The Tory rebels tried to stop his decision, but in the end, Johnson’s decision stands. Huawei will build part of England’s 5G network despite Trump’s threat to extract military and intelligence assets from the UK.
Robert Blair, the U.S. special envoy to Canada, let Justin Trudeau know Canada would face the same punishment if Canadian lawmakers decide to use Huawei 5G infrastructure. The Canadians know crossing Trump comes with severe consequences, but it’s unclear if Blair’s message will make a difference.
Huawei has a commanding lead in the race to dominate global 5G technology. Ericsson and Nokia don’t have what it takes to defeat Huawei when it comes to offering 5G services at a price. Nokia has financial issues. The company must decide if merging with Ericsson is the way to go to survive in the tech industry. But a merger that large could meet resistance, according to tech experts.
The coronavirus continues to erode economic growth around the world. Wall Street economists claim China’s economic growth will drop 2% in March. Other economists claim China’s growth could drop below 4% if the Chinese can’t get manufacturing productivity back. China’s supply chains, as well as the transportation industry, are in trouble, and it could take months to get those sectors functioning properly. Plus, China’s consumer market is in the toilet, and that won’t change until COVID-19 disappears, according to Chinese economists.
The Feds may cut interest rates again in March, according to Wall Street economists. But Jerome Powell wants Trump to step in and inject some kind of stimulus package into the mix before the Feds cut rates again. The Bank of England decided to follow the Feds lead and cut UK interest rates by 50 basis points. The benchmark interest rate in England before the cut was 0.75%, so the UK is in a dangerous situation if the rate cut doesn’t stimulate the economy during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Mr. Trump wants to cut payroll taxes to stimulate the U.S. economy, but lawmakers don’t like that idea. The Democrats want to pay hourly workers if they can’t work, but the president said that suggestion doesn’t make sense. But members of his party said the same thing about his payroll tax cut, so Trump’s economic stimulus is still a work in progress.
Dil Bole Oberoi
