US extends Huawei reprieve for another 90 days

The US Commerce Department has announced that it will extend a temporary license loosening restrictions on business deals with Chinese tech giant Huawei for another 90 days.

The extended Temporary General License allows "specific, limited engagement in transactions involving the export, re-export, and transfer of items", to Huawei and its non-US affiliates, Xinhua news agency quoted the Department as saying in a statement on Monday.

The reprieve came after the Department put Huawei and its 68 affiliates on an Entity List in May, which would restrict the sale or transfer of US technologies to Huawei.

On May 20, it issued a 90-day temporary license to ease off part of those restrictions.

"We recognize that more time is necessary to prevent any disruption," said Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross.

The temporary easing came amid concerns that Huawei's customers in the US, especially those in rural areas, will suffer without access to Huawei's services.

Outside the scope of the temporary license, any exports, re-exports, or in-country transfers of items subject to the Export Administration Regulations (EAR) will continue to require a license granted after a review by the Bureau of Industry and Security (BIS) under a presumption of denial, according to the department.

Meanwhile, the BIS of the US Department of Commerce added another 46 Huawei affiliates to the Entity List.

In response, Huawei said in a statement late Monday: "It's clear that this decision, made at this particular time, is politically motivated and has nothing to do with national security."

Noting that "the extension of the Temporary General License does not change the fact that Huawei has been treated unjustly", the company called on the US government to put an end to this unjust treatment and remove Huawei from the Entity List.

Earlier on Monday, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Geng Shuang urged the US to stop its unjustifiable bashing of Chinese enterprises, including Huawei, and to treat Chinese companies in a fair, just and non-discriminatory way.