The United States has amended its restrictions on Huawei, henceforth allowing its companies to work with Huawei on setting standards for next-generation 5G networks.
According to the Commerce Department, the amendment is meant to ensure Huawei’s placement on the U.S. entity list “does not prevent American companies from contributing to important standards-developing activities, despite Huawei’s pervasive participation in standards-development organizations.”
In May last year, the United States placed Huawei on the Commerce Department’s entity list (a trade blacklist), which restricted sales of U.S. goods and technology to the company, citing national security. Since then, American companies have been required to obtain a special license from the Commerce Department before having any business dealings with Huawei and its affiliates.
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However, with the amendment, companies are now free to disclose U.S. technologies to the Chinese telecom giant without a license so long as it is for 5G standards development.
Still, some governments have limited the use of Huawei’s equipment or excluded the Chinese telecom equipment maker from their 5G development entirely. Canada’s telecom providers have effectively locked out Huawei. In contrast, the U.K. has reversed its course on Huawei’s involvement in British 5G networks after being pressed by the U.S. to exclude it on the grounds of national security.
In the telecommunications industry, 5G, or fifth-generation wireless networks are expected to power everything from high-speed video transmissions to self-driving cars.
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