US to grant licences for sales to Huawei if national security is protected
The US government will issue licences to American companies looking to sell to Huawei as long as there is no threat to national security, commerce secretary Wilbur Ross has said.
Read more: Huawei will not pass information to Beijing, says Chinese ambassador
President Donald Trump last month appeared to row back on his clampdown against the embattled Chinese tech firm, which has been added to a US trade blacklist.
But the move sparked confusion as White House officials tried to clarify what the new policy would be.
Speaking at a department conference in Washington, Ross said Huawei will remain on the blacklist, meaning that most licences would be denied. However, he suggested that some licences would be approved.
“To implement the president’s G20 summit directive two weeks ago, commerce will issue licenses where there is no threat to US national security,” he said.
“Within those confines, we will try to make sure that we don’t just transfer revenue from the US to foreign firms.”
Huawei founder Ren Zhengfei has admitted that his firm could lose $30bn (£24bn) in revenue as a result of the ban.
However, US and UK companies in Huawei’s supply chain have also campaigned against the measures, warning that their business would be harmed.
The US has lobbied its allies not to allow the Chinese tech giant to build 5G networks due to concerns about spying.
Read more: Huawei blacklist remains in place, US government staff told
Huawei has denied the accusations, saying the campaign is politically motivated.
Main image credit: Getty