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Tuesday, August 20, 2019

Trump administration delays ban on Huawei Technologies because of concerns about disruptions in rural service

"The Trump administration is extending a reprieve for Huawei Technologies and U.S. companies working with the telecom giant by 90 days, the Commerce Department announced Monday," Bobby Allyn reports for NPR. The new deadline is Nov. 19.

As part of the trade war with China, in May President Trump announced that, within 90 days, U.S. telecoms networks had to stop buying or using equipment from "foreign adversaries". However, the move drew immediate protests from rural wireless carriers who rely on the less expensive Huawei equipment. Monday's extension is meant to give them "a little more time to wean themselves off," Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross said on Fox Business Network.

Despite the extended deadline, the Commerce Department is still pressuring Huawei, and has banned another 46 of the company's subsidiaries from doing business with U.S. companies because of national security concerns; that brings the total number of Huawei affiliates on the "Entity List" to more than 100. Commerce officials alleged that the companies engaged in activities including "providing financial services to Iran and obstructing justice in connection with a probe into violations of U.S. sanctions," Allyn reports.

Huawei protested the move, saying in a statement that the decision was politically motivated and unrelated to national security, Allyn reports.

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