Politico | US likely to extend limited export waiver for Huawei
- Six-month extension will allow US rural telecoms firms to conduct limited transactions with blacklisted Chinese tech company
- Current waiver set to expire on Monday, and covers supplying of existing networks and equipment and software updates and patches for Huawei handsets
This story is published in a content partnership with POLITICO. It was originally reported by Adam Behsudi on politico.com on November 14, 2019.
The US Commerce Department is expected to grant a six-month extension to permit rural telecommunications firms to do some transactions with blacklisted Chinese equipment maker Huawei, said two people familiar with the decision.
The administration has already extended the so-called temporary general licence once before. The current waiver is set to expire on Monday. It allows US firms to continue to engage in a limited number of transactions with Huawei, such as supplying existing networks and equipment and providing software updates and patches to Huawei handsets.
A Commerce spokesperson declined to confirm if the waiver would be extended.
Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross acknowledged in August that several rural telecommunications providers depend on Huawei equipment. Extending the temporary export waiver will allow rural internet providers to continue to buy parts and software.
The temporary export licence, however, does not cover major transactions between US semiconductor manufacturers like Intel, Qualcomm and Micron that supply microchips to the Shenzhen-based company, which is one of the world's largest manufacturers of telecommunications equipment.
Commerce is still sitting on applications for export licences that would allow those transactions to continue, and there is no schedule for when those waivers might be granted, the people said.
US chip makers have argued that semiconductors used in most of Huawei's phones are widely available on the world market and exports do not represent a national security risk. The US semiconductor industry has argued the export ban is hurting US companies by giving an advantage to foreign competitors in South Korea and Taiwan.
Huawei defies the odds after 180 days on US trade blacklist
Ross had said in the past that Commerce would consider any export waiver that does not jeopardise national security.
US Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer said last month that easing broader export restrictions on Huawei would not be part of a so-called phase one trade deal the US and China are working to finalise in the coming weeks.
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