China reportedly told U.S. tech firms they could face dire consequences if they follow White House policy

(Image credit: NICOLAS ASFOURI/AFP/Getty Images)

published 8 June 2019

The trade war between Washington and Beijing got a little more tense this week.

The Chinese government reportedly held meetings on Tuesday and Wednesday with major tech companies from the United States and elsewhere, warning them they could face dire consequences if they cooperate with the Trump administration's ban on sales of American technology to Chinese companies, including Huawei, people familiar with the meetings told The New York Times.

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Scott Kennedy, a senior adviser at the Washington-based Center for Strategic and International Studies, said Beijing is forcing U.S. companies to choose between "complying with pressure" from China or violating U.S. law. He told the Times that he believes, ultimately, the companies will not violate the law. "The companies are between a rock and a hard place," he said. "But that hard place will win out." Read more at The New York Times.

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Tim is a staff writer at The Week and has contributed to Bedford and Bowery and The New York Transatlantic. He is a graduate of Occidental College and NYU's journalism school. Tim enjoys writing about baseball, Europe, and extinct megafauna. He lives in New York City.

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