Huawei has been having a tough time with the sanctions imposed on it by the U.S. government as a casualty of the trade war between the U.S. and China. Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross has now said that the U.S. government will introduce new rules and put more restrictions on U.S. companies who are supplying equipment to Huawei.
The U.S. government put Huawei on an Entity List last year that prevents U.S. companies from indulging in any kind of trade with it. However, some of the companies found a workaround and have continued supplying the Chinese company with key components.
Ross, however, made it clear in an interview at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, that more restrictions will be imposed on Huawei suppliers in the U.S. He added that the U.S. government does not want to cut off Huawei"s access to American suppliers, but the aim is to protect the national security.
While U.S. and China did sign a trade deal recently, it did not include anything about lifting the restrictions on Huawei. In fact, there was no negotiation related to the company in phase one and as things stand right now, there has not been any "intent to negotiate it in phase two" as well.
As long as Huawei is on the Entity List, its Android license remains revoked, meaning it cannot launch new devices with Google Play Store and other Google apps pre-installed.
Source: Bloomberg