Pence Dismisses Idea of US Buying Nokia, Ericsson to Challenge Huawei

U.S. Vice President Mike Pence arrives in front of Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell for U.S. President Donald Trump's State of the Union address to a joint session of the U.S. Congress in the House Chamber of the U.S. Capitol in Washington, D.C. on Feb. 4, 2020. Leah Millis/Reuters

WASHINGTON—U.S. Vice President Mike Pence on Feb. 7 declined to endorse a suggestion from U.S. Attorney General William Barr that the United States consider taking control of two major foreign rivals of China-based Huawei Technologies Co. Ltd.

Barr, a former general counsel at Verizon Communications Inc., said on Thursday the United States and its allies should consider taking a “controlling stake” in Finland’s Nokia and Sweden’s Ericsson to counter Huawei’s dominance in next-generation 5G wireless technology.