The US Department of Commerce (DoC) cleared domestic companies to work with Huawei on 5G standards, removing uncertainty about whether this was prohibited under trade restrictions imposed on the Chinese vendor in 2019.
In a statement, Secretary of Commerce Wilbur Ross (pictured) encouraged national industry “to fully engage and advocate for US technologies to become international standards”, adding the DoC “recognizes the importance of harnessing American ingenuity to advance and protect our economic and national security”.
US trade restrictions on Huawei require domestic companies to apply for a licence to do business with the vendor.
But, in a new rule, the DoC states US companies will not need clearance to share information about their technology during the standards development process if they would not have needed a disclosure licence to share the technology before the Huawei sanctions.
US companies are still prohibited from sharing information about their technology with Huawei for commercial purposes without clearance.
Reuters reported last month the DoC was considering the move on standards to alleviate confusion.
The DoC acknowledged international standards as “critical building blocks for technological development”, with Ross adding the US “will not cede leadership in global innovation”.
