Ever since the Trump administration blacklisted Huawei, some of its key partners including Qualcomm, have found it difficult to have flexible trade. While there has been a buzz around the US semiconductor giant being in talks to resume the trade, Qualcomm CEO Steve Mollenkopf finally confirmed on Monday, September 23, that the company has resumed trade with Huawei.
While Mollenkopf didn’t say what kind of products Qualcomm is currently selling to Huawei, he said that the company is looking to secure a long-term supply deal with the Chinese tech company. The suspension on trade was put back in May when the US had argued that Huawei posed a national security threat due to its alleged close relations with the Chinese government. It had also made it necessary for US businesses to require a government license to sell products or provide services to the Chinese company.
Later in July, the US Department announced that the commerce between US and Huawei will begin only after issuing special licenses to companies. In August, Huawei was granted a new 90-day extension to its temporary trade license, to continue its trade with US companies. According to Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross, more than 50 companies applied to secure special licenses to distribute to Huawei in the past three months.
Earlier this month, the Semiconductor Industry Association, a trade association in the US, sent a letter to US President Donald Trump to ease the ban on sales to the Chinese tech giant. While Huawei has started producing its own chipsets, it still relies widely on Qualcomm and other tech majors on the country.
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