Trump stalls trade ban on Huawei for another 90 days

THE ban on US firms supplying Huawei has been delayed by a further 90 days as efforts to resolve trade tensions between the US and China continue.

Wilbur Ross, US commerce secretary, said the Chinese telecoms equipment maker would be permitted to buy supplies under a “temporary general licence”, ensuring it retains access to key components in the near-term. A ban was due to begin yesterday.

Huawei is the world’s largest supplier of telecoms equipment and relies on US chipmakers such as Qualcomm and Intel. In 2018, it spent $11bn (£9bn) on American components.

It has been swept into the Us-china trade war, with the US alleging Huawei could use equipment to spy on behalf of the Chinese government. Huawei denies all allegations of wrongdoing.

Mr Ross said the decision to extend the reprieve period was made to give US companies “a little more time to wean themselves off [Huawei]”. It came less than 24 hours after president Donald Trump cast doubt over any extension, claiming he “does not want to do business at all” with the Chinese firm.

Despite extending the reprieve, Mr Ross said 46 more affiliates of Huawei would be added to the blacklist, taking the total to more than 100. The decision follows a meeting of Mr Trump and Tim Cook, Apple chief executive, at the president’s golf club in New Jersey.

The Apple boss “made a very compelling argument” that tariffs on China could hurt the smartphone maker and its ability to compete with rivals such as Samsung, Trump said. Apple devices are mostly made in China, and with tariffs on electronic goods due to come into effect in September, a number of its products could be hit.

The temporary licence has let US tech firms such as Google continue trading with Huawei – whose phones run its Android operating system.

Since the US order, Huawei has publicly stated “nothing has changed” with regards to its mobile devices, insisting to customers they will continue to receive Android security and app updates. Huawei has unveiled its own system, Harmonyos, which it could use if it could not access Android.