Over the weekend, the tech world was shocked when Google was forced to cut ties with Huawei after Donald Trump’s executive order put a blacklist on Chinese vendors.
Now, the Department of Commerce has given Huawei a temporary license to continue doing business with American companies.
In a statement on Monday, Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross said, “The temporary general license grants operators time to make other arrangements and the [commerce] department space to determine the appropriate long term measures for Americans and foreign telecommunications providers that currently rely on Huawei equipment for critical services.”
It is only a temporary license which is going to last until August 19. This will allow the company to continue working with US corporations and support current customers until the license expires. It will maintain business relationships with Google, Intel, Qualcomm, and others to release software updates on existing hardware.
This is good news for Huawei and other Chinese phone makers as it gives them more time to prepare for the future and support their existing devices.
However, this does not mean that all is well between the American and the Chinese. Yes, this does give them more time to prepare, but if the relationship between Huawei and the US doesn’t change, the restrictions will go back into full effect.
Huawei, in response, has said that the reprieve “does not mean much” to them as they had already been preparing for a potential blacklisting. The Shenzen based company warned that the US is underestimating Huawei.
