This archive report was first published on 15 November 2019.
On November 14, 2019, Politico reported that the US Department of Commerce is expected to extend a limited waiver for Huawei, despite the ongoing trade tensions between the US and China.
The waiver, which would be the third extension granted to Huawei, would allow the Chinese firm to service existing networks and equipment, as well as provide software updates and patches to its handsets. This move would be a temporary reprieve for Huawei, which has been struggling to maintain its business operations due to the US ban.
According to sources with the White House, the Commerce Department may grant Huawei a six-month waiver extension, allowing rural telecom firms to maintain and utilize existing Huawei networking equipment and associated software. This potential extension would mean that Huawei and Honor owners would be guaranteed updates from Google at least until May 2020.
However, it's essential to note that this waiver extension would only be applicable to a series of Huawei and Honor devices that received Google's certification before the US ban. This means that devices like the Mate 30 and Mate X would remain without essential Google services.
Since the Trump administration implemented the ban on Huawei, the US Commerce Department has received over 260 applications from US firms for licenses to sell goods to the Chinese telecom technology maker, none of which have been granted to date. A number of US firms and Huawei partners have since cut ties with the Chinese firm.
Earlier in August, President Donald Trump had said that he did not want more extensions and that when the current one was over, there would be no more. The US has also pressured its allies, warning them of the dangers in doing business with Chinese firms like Huawei.
Now that Huawei is currently unable to offer new devices with Google apps installed and the temporary license is set to expire, granting a permanent trade license would ensure that millions get the updates needed and would allow Huawei to resume adding Google Apps to future devices.
According to Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross, licenses still might not be granted, as there is a presumption of denial for entities listed on the US entity list. Ross stated, "Remember too with entity lists there's a presumption of denial. So the safe thing for these companies would be to assume denial, even though we will obviously approve quite a few of them."
