US firms to continue business with Huawei

Washington is set to give two-week extension

WASHINGTON: The Trump administration is set to issue a two-week extension of a licence allowing US companies to continue doing business with China’s Huawei Technologies Co Ltd, two sources familiar with the deliberations said.

The extension of around two weeks is far shorter than the prior 90-day extension and a longer extension is in the works but has not yet been finalised due to regulatory hurdles, said one source who was briefed on the matter.

After adding Huawei to an economic blacklist in May citing national security concerns, the US Commerce Department has allowed it to purchase some American-made goods in a move aimed at minimising disruption for its customers, many of which operate networks in rural America. The extension will be announced on Monday, when the earlier reprieve is set to expire, the sources said, declining to be identified as the extension has not been publicly announced.

A spokesman for Huawei, the world’s biggest maker of telecom network equipment, said the company does not comment on rumours and speculation. The Commerce Department also declined to comment. Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross told Fox Business Network on Friday that some rural carriers need the temporary licences and are dependent on Huawei for 3G and 4G networks.

Published in The Express Tribune, November 17^th, 2019.

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