Report: US government unlikely to give HUAWEI another 90-day reprieve

At a briefing with reporters on Thursday, Rob Strayer, the State Department’s deputy assistant secretary for cyber policy, revealed that the United States government is unlikely to renew the temporary waiver which currently permits HUAWEI to do business with US-based firms (via Bloomberg).

At the moment, HUAWEI is a few weeks into its second 90-day long reprieve from the repercussions of its inclusion on the so-called Entity List. This 90-day reprieve allows HUAWEI to do certain types of business it wouldn’t be able to do if the ban were fully active.

HUAWEI received its first 90-day reprieve not long after the US government announced the Entity List and HUAWEI’s presence on it. It appears, according to this report, that there won’t be a third 90-day extension.

The current, second 90-day reprieve will be over on November 19, 2019.

Related: What HUAWEI will (and won’t) do to scratch your Google itch

Additionally, Strayer said the United States isn’t ruling out the possibility of adding more punishments related to HUAWEI’s business. For example, the US government could punish allies who choose to work with HUAWEI in rolling out 5G networks, possibly by withholding intelligence information. However, Strayer was not clear on if this is something the government is actively working on or just a possibility.

The so-called HUAWEI ban has had drastic effects on the company. It’s highly-anticipated Mate 30 and Mate 30 Pro smartphones will likely ship without Google applications on board, making them a tough sell in most countries outside of China. Without reprieve from the HUAWEI ban, the company will also no longer have access to licenses from companies such as Qualcomm and Arm, which will essentially make releasing any kind of smartphone incredibly difficult.