Donald Trump extends US Huawei ban by another year
US President Donald Trump has extended his country’s ban on controversial Chinese tech firm Huawei for a further year.
Trump last year declared a national emergency and signed an executive order banning US companies from using telecoms kit made by firms that posed a national security risk.
The order, which is aimed primarily at Chinese tech firms such as Huawei and ZTE, has now been extended until May 2021.
However, the US commerce department is also expected to extend a licence that allows US companies to keep doing business with Huawei to update existing devices, Reuters reported, citing a person briefed on the matter.
The department has previously granted a series of extensions to the temporary licence, which is due to expire on Friday.
In March the commerce department sought public comments on whether to extend the licence, asking companies what the impact of scrapping it would be.
US telecoms trade association CTIA called on the government to approve a long-term extension, saying “now is not the time to hamper global operators’ ability to maintain the health of the networks”.
The ban means Huawei and other firms are unable to sell products or work on software deals with providers such as Google.
The US has taken a hardline approach to Huawei and urged its allies to ban the Chinese firm amid concerns its technology could be used for spying by authorities in Beijing. Huawei has always denied the allegations.
Earlier this year the UK government gave Huawei the green light to build non-sensitive parts of the country’s 5G network, but has implemented a market share cap on the company.