Huawei is getting another reprieve from the ban imposed by the US Commerce Department. The Chinese networking giant is getting a 90-day extension to its temporary trade license. After US added Huawei to its entity list, the company was granted a temporary trade licence. After the deadline expired on August 19, 2019, the US has granted the company another extension of 90 days. The extension will allow Huawei to continue buying supplies from US companies and service its existing customers.
Under the temporary general license, Huawei will be able to work with companies like Intel, Qualcomm, Micron Technology, Google and others. The extension means that Huawei will be able to maintain existing telecommunication networks. It will also be able to provide software updates to its smartphones running Android. Huawei has become the biggest pawn in the ongoing trade war between the US and China. US President Donald Trump is using Huawei as the key bargaining chip in his trade negotiations with China.
The Commerce Department blacklisted Huawei in May from working with US-based hardware and software companies. It alleged the Chinese company is involved in activities that threaten the national security. Huawei has repeatedly denied these allegations and its CEO Ren Zhengfei told media that it will never act as a backdoor for China. The extension will help the company to service its existing networks and continue to work on planned products.
While Huawei is getting a 90-day reprieve, the Commerce Department has moved to add 46 of its affiliates to the entity list. According to Reuters, many suppliers requested the special licenses to sell to the firm. “As we continue to urge consumers to transition away from Huawei’s products, we recognize that more time is necessary to prevent any disruption,” Secretary of Commerce Wilbur Ross said in a statement shared with the press.
“We oppose the US Commerce Department’s decision to add another 46 Huawei affiliates to the Entity List. It’s clear that this decision, made at this particular time, is politically motivated and has nothing to do with national security,” Huawei has said in a statement obtained by TechCrunch. “These actions violate the basic principles of free market competition. They are in no one’s interests, including US companies. Attempts to suppress Huawei’s business won’t help the United States achieve technological leadership. We call on the US government to put an end to this unjust treatment and remove Huawei from the Entity List.”
The Chinese company is the world’s largest telecommunications equipment maker. It is also the second largest smartphone maker in the world. While it remains dependent on US companies for components and software, it has started building its own products as well. The company this month introduced HarmonyOS, its first indigenous operating system, built on a microkernel. HarmonyOS might replace Android and Windows in the future.
