Major news headline around the world of the arrest of Huawei CFO Meng Wanzhou, in Vancouver, Canada on behalf of US. Apparently Huawei is world's largest maker of phones, selling to markets around the world but I think blocked out of the US for alleged spyware backdoors. This follows also a crippling of ZTE, another smaller rival that was also blocked out of buying from US suppliers, in which Chinese President Xi had to intervene to get a reprieve so ZTE could continue functioning.
I am not sure exactly what any of this has to do with... patent issues, sanctions on Iran, trade war... It is all jumbled up and confusing and the stock market is already dropping like crazy so who knows what officials had inside knowledge and taking advantage of it in their portfolios (yet to be seen).
Nevertheless, how does that bode for the average consumer, hobbyist, electronics enthusiast who is relying on Chinese technologies and manufacturing? Does the USA have sole discretion to act according to it's own decisions and affect trade relations of China also with other countries. For example, I'm in Canada and Meng was arrested in Canada because of extradition treaties. China now will also turn a cold shoulder to Canada and any other US allies, and the impact will be unpredictable. Canadian companies doing business with China also could be retaliated against by US, and so it goes on and on.
Many US companies are manufacturing and assembling in China, including Apple. What effects will it have on those and others who are relying on Chinese production lines?