U.S. delays Huawei ban for 90 days

WASHINGTON—The U.S. Department of Commerce on Monday announced a 90-day grace period for Chinese tech giant Huawei to work with American companies. A week ago, the Trump administration placed Huawei on the so-called Entity List, barring it from trading with U.S. firms. The reprieve will allow American companies such as Google to keep supporting existing networks and sending software updates to customers with Huawei phones until Aug. 19. President Donald Trump has pressured Huawei over issues of security and safety, which many see as a political tactic to prevent new European 5G networks from accepting Huawei products.

The Commerce Department cited “activities that are contrary to U.S. national security or foreign policy interests” as reasons for the original ban and accused Huawei of obstructing American sanctions on Iran. But Huawei’s founder does not seem worried. The U.S. ban “will have no impact within this company,” Ren Zhengfei said.