US government agencies held a meeting last week to discuss proposals for new restrictive measures on exports to China, Reuters reported citing anonymous sources. These proposals reportedly included restricting sales of chips to Huawei and General Electric's jet engines to aerospace manufacturer Comac building Chinese C919 airliners.
According to Reuters, not all of these proposals found support with President Donald Trump, who opposed measures against jet engine exports. At the same time, the idea of banning the export of chips, a crucial component of Huawei devices, allegedly still remains on the table in a bid to curb the company's positions on global markets.
The report comes hot on the heels of Trump's own remarks that foreign buyers of US-made chips and other products should not face difficulties due to the abuse of the "national security concerns" card. He, however, didn't elaborate whether it means Huawei will be allowed to buy US products that do not endanger the country's national security.
"I mean, things are put on my desk that have nothing to do with national security, including with chipmakers and various others", Trump said.
Washington initiated its campaign against Huawei last year orchestrating the arrest of its top financial officer in Canada, Meng Wanzhou, banning American companies from working with the Chinese tech giant, and pressuring foreign countries, even trying to blackmail allies, to ban Huawei from their 5G networks. The US claims that Huawei installs backdoors on its equipment to allow Beijing to freely spy on its clients.
Both the Chinese government and the tech titan deny Washington's allegations and harshly condemned its actions against Huawei. The company promised to sue the White House over its policies and in the meantime has decided to replace American parts and software with alternatives, including domestically-produced items.
Washington's campaign to push Huawei out of 5G networks has largely been unsuccessful with only a few countries banning the company. The UK, one of the US’s key allies, allowed Huawei's equipment in non-core and non-sensitive parts of its 5G networks.