The US Commerce Department on Monday announced an additional 90-day reprieve that gives US organizations until November 19 to cut ties with Chinese tech giant Huawei before a ban forbidding firms from doing business with the company officially goes into effect. US President Donald Trump had threatened to block the extension of the ban, but ultimately did not block it. In May of this year, Trump signed an executive order extending the federal ban on Huawei products to the private sector, citing security concerns.
Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross said the reprieve was necessary for certain “rural [telecom] companies [that] are dependent on Huawei.” He stated that his department has added 46 additional Huawei subsidiaries to the Entity List that has been described as the ‘death penalty’ equivalent of sanctions. Ross said that “we now have more than 100 subsidiaries on the Entity List—adding more entities makes it more difficult for Huawei to get around the sanctions.” The government is warning customers to avoid Huawei products.
Read more: Trump Gives Huawei 90 Day Reprieve, But Customers Warned To Ditch The Brand