U.S. companies could be allowed to resume shipments of components and services to Chinese vendor Huawei in approximately two weeks, Reuters reported, citing a representative for a U.S. manufacturer.
According to the report, the representative was told by a senior U.S. government official that licenses could be granted in two to four weeks.
However, the representative said that there were no details on the criteria to be followed by the authorities for approval of licenses.
The report also stated that two US chipmakers have already said they would apply for licenses to ship components to Huawei.
In May, the Trump administration confirmed that the U.S. Department of Commerce added Huawei to its Entity List, a decision that effectively banned the company from buying parts and components from U.S. companies without U.S. government approval. Under the order, Huawei will need a U.S. government license to buy components from U.S. suppliers.
At that time, firms including Google, Intel, Qualcomm and Microm had halted shipments due to the restrictions. Huawei relies heavily on computer chips imported from U.S. companies.
Out of $70 billion that Huawei spent buying components in 2018, some $11 billion went to U.S. firms including Qualcomm, Intel and Micron Technology
“The Entity list restrictions should be removed altogether, rather than have temporary licenses applied for US vendors. Huawei has been found guilty of no relevant wrongdoing and represents no cybersecurity risk to any country so the restrictions are unmerited,” Reuters reported a Huawei spokesperson as saying.
Earlier this month, President Donald Trump said that U.S. companies can sell their equipment to Huawei as long as the transactions won’t present a “great, national emergency problem.”
Trump made these comments during a press conference at the G-20 summit in Osaka, Japan, after a bilateral meeting with Chinese President Xi Jinping, which had the main aim of discussing an impasse in the ongoing trade dispute between the two countries.
Last week, U.S. Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross confirmed that the U.S. government will issue licenses to domestic companies seeking to sell components to Huawei where there is no threat to national security.
In related news, Huawei’s Italy chief urged the Italian government to deal with European and non-European 5G vendors equally, Reuters reported.
Last week, Italy’s government included 5G infrastructure in a legislation which obliges companies to flag for review equipment purchases from non-European vendors.
Huawei Italy CEO Thomas Miao said that 5G deployment should not be subject to geopolitical disputes.
Miao announced Huawei plans to invest EUR 2.75 billion ($ 3.08 billion) in Italy over the next three years, adding 1,000 direct and 2,000 indirect jobs in the country.
The executive also said that Huawei expects to cut approximately 1,000 jobs in the U.S.
The Wall Street Journal reported Huawei is preparing to dismiss workers at its R&D arm, Futurewei Technologies. The subsidiary employs around 850 people in the states of Texas, California and Washington.
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