Employees of the US Department of the Economy have been told to continue to treat Huawei as if it were on the blacklist. John Sonderman, a high-ranking civil servant, would have told them that. President Donald Trump said last Saturday that American companies are allowed to supply the Chinese manufacturer again.
Huawei was blacklisted in May because of years of US suspicions about Chinese espionage through the company. Companies on the blacklist may not do business with U.S. organizations unless specifically authorized to do so.
However, last Saturday at the G20, President Trump said that US companies will again be allowed to sell products and services to Huawei. The comment came after discussions about the trade war between the US and China.
American chip manufacturers were pleased with the president’s decision, as Huawei is the world’s largest telecom equipment manufacturer and a major customer in the US.
Confusion
Now, however, confusion has arisen. Government officials and industry players do not know exactly what the policy around Huawei is. Sonderman tried to clear that up in an e-mail to employees, which Reuters saw.
In that e-mail, Sonderman explains how employees should deal with requests for licences to do business with Huawei. All applications must be considered on the basis of merit. It should also be reported that the party is on the entity list (the black list, ed.). Evaluate the corresponding policy for licensing provisions under Part 744.
In doing so, Sonderman refers to the rules on the blacklist and the way in which licensing policy is applied. To put it simply, all applications for licenses are likely to be rejected.
Much unclear
Sonderman further argues that other guidelines should be taken into account when making a decision. However, it is unclear whether there will be any further guidelines on the basis of Trump’s statements. It is also not known how these possible additional guidelines affect the chances of obtaining a license.
The Ministry of Commerce has not responded to Reuters’ reports.
This news article was automatically translated from Dutch to give Techzine.eu a head start. All news articles after September 1, 2019 are written in native English and NOT translated. All our background stories are written in native English as well. For more information read our launch article.
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