Huawei receives another license extension from U.S. government

The U.S. Commerce Department has granted Huawei a fifth extension since it placed the Chinese company on the “entity list” last year.

The license allows U.S. companies to continue to do business with the company. After it added Huawei to the blacklist, the department allowed it to purchase some American goods in an attempt to minimize the disruption for carriers in rural areas.

Reuters reports that the department might not continue to renew the licenses in the future, and that it is reportedly seeking public comments about its extensions.

In May 2019, U.S. President Donald Trump banned Huawei from working with any U.S.-based company. Shortly after, Google pulled its business from the company, which included pulling services from Huawei phones.

The government then lifted the ban slightly and said that companies could apply for a licence but those would be reviewed closely and would only be granted if a national security threat is not posed.

The U.S. government has been urging other governments to ban Huawei from participating in the rollout of 5G. A U.S. official recently shared classified information with the Canadian government regarding risks associated with Huawei’s equipment.

During the exchange, Canadian officials also shared details about malware problems that they encountered with Huawei equipment.

Further, Innovation Minister Navdeep Bains recently said that Canada “won’t get bullied” by other jurisdictions in making a decision about Huawei and 5G networks. He said that the decision will focus on protecting Canadians.

There currently is not a timeline on when the government will make a final decision on its Huawei 5G review.

Source: Reuters