Huawei claims US blacklist has 'limited' impact on tech company

Huawei chairman Liang Hua said on Monday that Washington's decision to blacklist the telecommunications equipment maker had had little impact on the firm overall.

Liang made the comments just after the US announced a decision to allow American firms to continue doing business with Huawei, despite it having been blacklisted.

According to Reuters, at the weekend, American officials said they would issue a 90-day extension to the existing license for US firms who do business with Huawei.

Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross had told Fox Business Network on Friday that some rural carriers needed the temporary licenses and were dependent on Huawei to maintain their 3G and 4G networks.

“There are enough problems with telephone service in the rural communities - we don’t want to knock them out. So, one of the main purposes of the temporary general licenses is to let those rural guys continue to operate,” Ross said.

The blacklisting would not have a big impact on the company’s operations because Huawei was able to ship products to customers without relying on US parts, its chairman told CNBC in an interview.

Liang reportedly also said that if US companies were not allowed to sell to Huawei, it would “pose a bigger damage” to them.

Neither had the company had any direct communications with the US government regarding the current state of negotiations.

“We don’t have a channel to talk to them either,” Liang said.

Despite pressure from the US, Huawei claimed in October that it had signed more than 60 commercial 5G contracts with “leading global carriers.”