Trump says he doesn’t want to do business with Huawei over ‘national security threat’
President Donald Trump has said he doesn’t want the US to do business with Huawei, following reports that his administration is set to extend a licence allowing the Chinese company to purchase US goods.
Speaking to reporters on Sunday, Trump said he did not want to do business with Huawei over national security concerns.
“At this moment it looks much more like we’re not going to do business,” he said. “I don’t want to do business at all because it is a national security threat and I really believe that the media has covered it a little bit differently than that.”
Read more: Apple’s Tim Cook cautions Donald Trump over China tariffs
It had been widely reported that the US will extend a reprieve allowing the company to purchase supplies from US companies so it can continue to serve existing companies.
It is thought that Huawei’s “temporary general licence” – which is due to lapse today – will be extended for a further 90 days, according to Reuters.
Huawei had been temporarily allowed to purchase American goods after being blacklisted in May, in an attempt to limit disruption to customers.
Blacklisting the world’s largest telecommunications equipment maker was seen as a major escalation in the US China trade war.
Trump said yesterday that small parts of Huawei’s business could be exempted from a ban, but this would be “very complicated”. He did not say whether the US government was going to extend the company’s “temporary general licence”.