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Attendees walk past a display for 5G services from Chinese technology firm Huawei at the PT Expo in Beijing, Oct. 31, 2019. Photo: AP

US suppliers will get green light to resume sales to Huawei ‘very soon’, says Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross

  • Ross said the US government had received 206 requests from American firms wanting to sell to Huawei
Huawei

Huawei Technologies, the Chinese telecommunications equipment vendor currently on a US blacklist, will soon be able to resume purchasing American technology, according to US Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross.

Speaking in an interview with Bloomberg aired on Sunday, Ross said he expects licenses to allow US companies to sell to Huawei will come “very soon” and that the US government had received 206 requests – more than it had initially expected, according to Ross.

In mid-May Huawei and 68 affiliates were placed on a US trade blacklist that prevents them from using US technologies and software without approval. US companies were banned from selling to Huawei without special licenses.

Immediately following the US move, Huawei told its 190,000 staff and its global suppliers that the company has long prepared for the “doomsday” scenario and had contingency plans to “ensure the strategic safety of most of the company’s products and the continuous supply of most products”, according to an internal letter sent by the president of Huawei’s wholly owned semiconductor unit HiSilicon, Teresa He Tingbo.

U.S. Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross. Photo: Reuters

In late September, Huawei said it has started making 5G base stations without US components and that total production of 5G base stations should more than double next year as the company had aimed to start scaling production since October. It also said it has secured more than 60 commercial 5G contracts globally.

“Without US components, we are able to continue to supply products to our customers and increase their trust. In fact, the US has advertised for us, and I don't think the US suppression has created obstructions for us,” Ren Zhengfei, Huawei’s founder and chief executive said in an interview with Euronews in October.

But the trade ban caused Huawei to delay sales of its newly launched Mate 30 smartphone series in Europe, the company’s biggest market outside China, because the handsets have no access to Google apps and services.

Ross also expressed optimism the US would reach a “Phase One” trade deal with China this month. Huawei declined to comment on Ross’ remarks.

Decision on Huawei role in Britain’s 5G delayed until after UK election

Separately, the US government is pushing Taiwan to restrict Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company (TSMC), the world’s largest contract chip maker, from producing semiconductors for Huawei, the Financial Times reported on Monday, citing unnamed Taiwanese and US government officials.

This report was denied by the company though.

“We have not received any request from either the US government or the Taiwan government asking us not to ship wafers to Huawei,” TSMC’s spokeswoman Elizabeth Sun said in an emailed statement on Monday.

Taiwan Cabinet spokeswoman Kolas Yotaka indicated that the US has not asked Taiwan to stop TSMC from shipping to Huawei, according to a Bloomberg News report on Monday.

Huawei, TSMC’s second largest client after Apple, needs the Taiwan company to mass produce its high-end chips that are widely used in its server and smartphones.

TSMC said in May that it would maintain shipments to HiSilicon as that did not contravene the US ban.

For more insights into China tech, sign up for our tech newsletters, subscribe to our Inside China Tech podcast, and download the comprehensive 2019 China Internet Report. Also roam China Tech City, an award-winning interactive digital map at our sister site Abacus.

This article appeared in the South China Morning Post print edition as: US commerce minister raises hopes of Huawei with hint on blacklist
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