Microsoft has been granted a license from the U.S. government to export software to Huawei. The Donald Trump Administration on Wednesday gave Huawei its second 90 day reprieve this week, allowing some suppliers to restart sales to Huawei after it was placed on a trade blacklist over national security concerns six months ago.
The US Commerce Department confirmed it had begun issuing licenses for some companies to sell goods to Huawei, expanding the company’s supplier base and providing long-awaited clarity to the industry that once sold it billions of dollars worth of goods.
Microsoft said in a statement:
“On November 20, the U.S. Department of Commerce granted Microsoft’s request for a license to export mass-market software to Huawei. We appreciate the Department’s action in response to our request.”
On Wednesday, a U.S. official said it had received roughly 300 license requests, about half of which had been processed. Roughly half of those, or one-quarter of the total, had been approved and the rest denied.
It was not immediately clear which products had been approved for sale to Huawei, which is also the world’s second-largest smartphone maker. A person familiar with the process said Wednesday that some licenses for sales of cellphone components and non-electronic components were approved.
Huawei has been anxiously awaiting a license for Google to supply its mobile services to new models. Without access to Google services such as its Play Store for apps, Huawei phones will become harder to sell to consumers outside of China. Google declined to comment Thursday.
