US Treasury Secretary Steve Mnuchin and Trump economic adviser Larry Kudlow will host a meeting of semiconductor and software executives at the White House on Monday to discuss Washington’s restrictions on Huawei, Reuters reported Friday, citing a source familiar with the matter.
In May, Washington blocked Huawei from importing US hardware, bringing the US-China trade dispute to another level. However, in late June, the US provided a small concession to China by partially opening up its general merchandise application for export licenses regarding Huawei.
In the wake of the latest US ban, several American companies, including Google, have suspended business ties with Huawei which has prevented the world’s biggest phone maker from access to key components.
Last week, Huawei’s chairman urged the United States to remove the company from its trade blacklist as the move would backfire on US partner companies.
While Huawei has said that it seeks to participate in the development of cutting-edge 5G networks abroad, the United States and a number of countries have pointed to ties between the company CEO and the Chinese government, alleging that Beijing could use Huawei’s equipment to spy on users abroad.
The US government, which has also prohibited the use of Chinese telecommunications giant ZTE’s equipment, called on allies to exclude Huawei from developing 5G networks. Australia and New Zealand have banned Huawei from taking part in native 5G projects.
Huawei has rejected the allegations and the tech giant said the restrictions could affect the company’s ability to provide services to clients in more than 170 countries across the globe.