I'm going to make two assumptions: China is spying on us through these phones, and the US is not spying on the Chinese through US phones.
Now consider what real harm is going to come from US citizens using these phones when don't have any influence on the US government. Are the Chinese going to siphon the data of everyone in the country and use it to plan attacks on the government? Could be. But considering the relationship these two counties have right now, does this seem probable?
We aren't at war with China. But we are slowly giving up market share to foreign companies, which weakens our economy and our negotiating power. Really, the biggest threat to the US from China is not intelligence leaks. It's customers. Once we lose the mobile market, everything else people use through the mobile phone may follow. China's startups could position themselves to become the center of the tech world with a captive user base and tailored platform.
It could be that ZTE and Huawei simply can't be bought, and the US gains nothing by allowing China to dump cheap and powerful smartphones on the market. It's one thing to screen phones in the public sector - but nationally? I'm not buying it.
Now consider what real harm is going to come from US citizens using these phones when don't have any influence on the US government. Are the Chinese going to siphon the data of everyone in the country and use it to plan attacks on the government? Could be. But considering the relationship these two counties have right now, does this seem probable?
We aren't at war with China. But we are slowly giving up market share to foreign companies, which weakens our economy and our negotiating power. Really, the biggest threat to the US from China is not intelligence leaks. It's customers. Once we lose the mobile market, everything else people use through the mobile phone may follow. China's startups could position themselves to become the center of the tech world with a captive user base and tailored platform.
It could be that ZTE and Huawei simply can't be bought, and the US gains nothing by allowing China to dump cheap and powerful smartphones on the market. It's one thing to screen phones in the public sector - but nationally? I'm not buying it.