US government planning to grant Huawei another 90-day licence extension

Announcement of yet-another 90-day concession to Huawei expected to be announced by US government today

The Trump administration is likely to give Huawei a 90-day extension of its licence to do business in the US, according to Reuters.

The White House administration was earlier considering to provide the Chinese firm a two-week extension of its license, two sources familiar with the matter told Reuters, but it is now working to renew the licence for the same three-month period as it did in August.

The formal announcement by the government is expected to come today when the previous reprieve expires.

Last week, Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross stated that some carriers providing 3G and 4G mobile services in rural areas needed temporary licenses as they were still dependent on Huawei for smooth operation of their networks.

"There are enough problems with telephone service in the rural communities - we don't want to knock them out," Ross said.

"So, one of the main purposes of the temporary general licences is to let those rural guys continue to operate," he added.

Attorney General William Barr said last week that Huawei and ZTE Corp "cannot be trusted" and there was a need to bar US rural wireless carriers from using an $8.5 billion government fund to purchase services or telecom equipment from these Chinese firms.

In May this year, the US government blacklisted Huawei, citing national security concerns. The government said there was reasonable basis to conclude that Huawei was engaged in activities that were contrary to the national security of the US.

But, a few days later, the US government softened its stance, temporarily allowing US firms to do business with Huawei in a move aimed to minimise disruption for them.

On Monday, Huawei chairman Liang Hua told CNBC that the US government's decision to allow Huawei to continue doing business in the US would have little impact on the company as it was able to ship its products to customers without relying on US components or chips.

"No matter whether there will be an extension, in terms of its real impact on Huawei, it will be very limited," Liang said.

He added that banning Huawei in the US would actually "pose a bigger damage" to them.

Huawei chairman stressed that the US government does not know the tech company well enough, and that is the reason behind the lack of communication between the two parties.