Trump administration begins issuing licenses for sales to Huawei

The Trump administration has begun issuing licenses for U.S. companies to do business with the Chinese company Huawei, Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross said Tuesday.

Ross told Fox Business Network in an interview Tuesday night that the department is beginning to issue licenses to some of the about 290 applicants, who requested “special licenses” to conduct business with Huawei after the company was blacklisted in May.

“We now have been starting to send out the 20-day intent to deny letters and some approvals,” he said in the interview.

The Commerce Department announced Monday that the temporary license permitting some companies to work with Huawei has been extended 90 days, in the third deadline extension since the company was blacklisted. 

“These are not extensions that make life pleasant for them,” Ross said. “These are general license extensions that give them a very limited ability to serve as existing activities that were in place before May 13 when we put them on the list.”

The Trump administration halted sales from U.S. businesses to Huawei in May, citing national security concerns. All companies that conduct business with Huawei now require a license.

Huawei has previously denied the claims that the company poses a cybersecurity threat to the U.S.