White House approves some sales to HUAWEI, confusion continues

The US trade ban against Huawei has been going on for almost six months now, affecting the firm’s ability to produce and sell devices.

Now, the New York Times reports that President Donald Trump has given the green light to begin approving licenses for several US firms wanting to deal with the Chinese brand. These licenses will allow US firms to supply “non-sensitive” goods to HUAWEI.

It’s unclear if any US companies have actually received licenses to deal with HUAWEI in the wake of the announcement though. One of the biggest casualties of the trade ban has been the Mate 30 series, as the new HUAWEI flagships aren’t allowed to ship with Google’s services.

For what it’s worth, the US Commerce Department told the New York Times in an email that “as of right this moment, the status quo holds.”

This wouldn’t be the first time Trump approved some sales to HUAWEI, as he previously stated in June that some US companies can deal with the Chinese manufacturer. But it appears as if no licenses were actually granted by the US government. In other words, we’ll believe the news of resumed business ties when it actually happens.

We’ve contacted both Google and HUAWEI to find out how this announcement affects them. We’ll update the article when/if they get back to us. Update: HUAWEI has come back to us via email, explaining that they don’t have anything to say on the matter.