U.S. Unlikely to Renew Waiver for American Huawei Suppliers

The U.S. probably won’t renew a temporary waiver that lets American companies do business with Huawei as Washington cracks down on Chinese companies, according to Bloomberg.

The government also isn’t ruling out additional punishments for allies that refuse to ban Huawei equipment in 5G networks, in addition to potentially cutting them off from intelligence-sharing agreements, Rob Strayer, the State Department’s deputy assistant secretary for cyber policy, said at a briefing with reporters in Brussels. He didn’t specify what those repercussions might be.

The State Department comments come as the European Union is preparing to unveil a bloc-wide assessment of security risks to 5G networks. Member states will need to agree to EU-wide measures by the end of the year, which could include certification requirements, tests or identifying some suppliers as “non-secure.“

While European countries would still have the individual right to ban companies for national security reasons, reaching an EU-wide agreement on any security measures may prove a challenge. In countries like Hungary, which has some of the deepest ties to China in Europe, officials are embracing Huawei “as an important strategic partner,“ the country’s finance minister said in April.