Daily Management Review

License To American Companies To Do Business With Huawei To Be Extended: Reports


11/17/2019




License To American Companies To Do Business With Huawei To Be Extended: Reports
According to reports, an extension for two week for a license to American companies will be given by the Trump administration to allow them to do business with the Chinese tech giant Huawei, which has been blacklisted by the US government.  
 
However, this two week time period is way shorter than the 90 day period that the US government had initially said it would give to US companies. However reports quoting sources said that the Trump administration is also looking at offering a longer extension to American companies allowing them to do business with Huawei. However that could not be finalized yet because of regulatory issues.
 
The US Commerce Department had put Huawei in its so called ‘entity list’ in May this year over concerns of threat to national security which prevented all American companies from doing any business in the country. However department later allowed Huawei to buy some goods form American companies with the aim of reducing disruption for the consumers of the Chinese company in the US which include companies that provide mobile network services in the country.
 
According to sources, the Trump administration is set to make the announcement on Monday when the earlier license period is set to come to an end.  
 
The company does not comment on rumors and speculations, a spokesman for Huawei, the largest maker of telecom network equipment in the world, told the media. There were also no comments available from the US Commerce Department.
 
The temporary licenses are needed by some rural customers and the operations of their 3G and 4G networks is significantly dependent on Huawei, said US Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross in an interview to Fox Business Network on Friday. “There are enough problems with telephone service in the rural communities - we don’t want to knock them out. So, one of the main purposes of the temporary general licenses is to let those rural guys continue to operate,” Ross said.
 
This step by the Trump administration is set to be announced at a time when the United States and China are holding serious negotiations to finalize an interim trade agreement that could bring an end to the trade war between the two countries that has been ongoing for more than a tear now.
 
While putting Huawei on the list of entities, the US Commerce Ministry has said that it had a “reasonable basis to conclude that Huawei is engaged in activities that are contrary to U.S. national security or foreign policy interests”. Such charges have been repeatedly denied by Huawei.
 
Huawei and ZTE Corp “cannot be trusted,” said US Attorney General William Barr on Thursday while supporting a proposal proposing to ban those American companies that provide wireless connectivity in rural America from accessing an $8.5 billion government fund that is used to purchase equipment or services from them.
 
According to reports, a decision about whether to grant individual licenses for US companies to do business with Huawei is pending with the US Commerce Department. The department has received more than 200 such requests.
 
(Source:www.reuters.com)