US commerce staff told to treat Huawei as a blacklisted entity despite Trump's vow to ease a ban against the company
- A senior US official told the Commerce Department's enforcement staff in an email that China's Huawei should still be treated as blacklisted.
- The message comes days after President Donald Trump sowed confusion with a vow to ease a ban on selling to the firm after meeting with Chinese President Xi Jinping at the G20 summit.
- A person familiar with the matter said the letter was the only guidance that enforcement officials had received after Trump's surprise announcement on Saturday.
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - A senior U.S. official this week told the Commerce Department's enforcement staff that China's Huawei should still be treated as blacklisted, days after U.S. President Donald Trump sowed confusion with a vow to ease a ban on selling to the firm.
On Saturday, Trump surprised markets by promising Chinese President Xi Jinping on the sidelines of the G20 summit in Japan that he would allow U.S. companies to sell products to Huawei Technologies Co Ltd.
In May, the company was added to the so-called Entity List, which bans American firms from selling to it without special permission, as punishment for actions against U.S. national security interests.
Trump's announcement Saturday -- an olive branch to Beijing to revive stalled trade talks -- was cheered by U.S. chipmakers eager to maintain sales to Huawei, the world's largest telecoms equipment maker and a key U.S. customer.
But Trump's comments also spawned confusion among industry players and government officials struggling to understand what Huawei policy he had unveiled.
In an email to enforcement staff on Monday and seen by Reuters, John Sonderman, Deputy Director of the Office of Export Enforcement, in the Commerce Department's Bureau of Industry and Security (BIS), sought to clarify how agents should approach license requests by firms seeking approval to sell to Huawei.
All such applications should be considered on merit and flagged with language noting that "This party is on the Entity List. Evaluate the associated license review policy under part 744," he wrote, citing regulations that include the Entity List and the "presumption of denial" licensing policy that is applied to blacklisted companies.
He added that any further guidance from BIS should also be taken into account when evaluating Huawei-related license applications.
The Commerce department did not immediately respond to request for comment.
A person familiar with the matter said the letter was the only guidance that enforcement officials had received after Trump's surprise announcement on Saturday. A presumption of denial implies strict review and most licenses reviewed under it are not approved.
It is unclear when Commerce will provide its enforcement staff with additional guidance, based on Trump's promises, and how that might alter the likelihood of obtaining licenses.
The internal memo, not previously reported, came as White House advisors also scrambled to shed light on Trump's announcement.
White House trade adviser Peter Navarro noted on Tuesday that the government would allow "lower tech" chip sales to the company, which don't impact national security.
The United States has accused Huawei of stealing American intellectual property and violating Iran sanctions.
It has launched a lobbying effort to convince U.S. allies to keep Huawei out of next-generation 5G telecommunications infrastructure, citing concerns the company could spy on customers. Huawei has denied the allegations.
(Reporting by Alexandra Alper; Additional Reporting by Karen Freifeld in New York and Stephen Nellis in San Francisco; Editing by Michael Perry)