Local Huawei arm lands on US blacklist as Trump administration delays ban

Huawei Australia has been added to a list of companies that US firms are banned from selling services to.

A general view of the Sydney headquarters of Chinese tech company Huawei. Picture: AAP

Huawei’s Australian arm has been put on the blacklist of companies that US firms are banned from selling services to, as part of the Trump administration’s ongoing push to disable the Chinese technology company.

Huawei Australia is one of the 46 new Huawei subsidiaries added by the US Department of Commerce to the ban list, which now stretches beyond 100 and puts more pressure on Huawei to operate in the United States.

However, the Chinese company has another 90 days before the ban comes into effect, with the US government keen to minimise the disruption to consumers and businesses as a result of Huawei’s kit being removed from US networks.

“The continuation of the temporary general license (TGL) is intended to afford consumers across America the necessary time to transition away from Huawei equipment, given the persistent national security and foreign policy threat,” the US Department of Commerce said.

“As we continue to urge consumers to transition away from Huawei’s products, we recognise that more time is necessary to prevent any disruption,” Secretary of Commerce Wilbur Ross said.

“Simultaneously, we are constantly working at the department to ensure that any exports to Huawei and its affiliates do not violate the terms of the Entity Listing or Temporary General License.”

Extending the scope of the ban list allows the US to stamp out any possibility of the Huawei using its global network of subsidiaries to circumvent the restrictions that prevent US companies, including Google, Intel, Micron and Qualcomm, from doing business with the company.

Huawei Australia is not going to be materially impacted by the move, given that it receives its hardware and software from China.

The 90-day reprieve, the second since May, also highlights the need for the Trump administration to manage Huawei’s exit carefully, given the extent to which its equipment is used in US networks, particularly by regional telcos.

It also means that Huawei’s next flagship device, Mate 30, will run on Google’s Android operating system.