Google delays cutting off Huawei

Google on Tuesday announced that it is pausing plans to sever ties with Chinese telecommunications giant Huawei after the U.S. temporarily eased some trade restrictions on the company.

On Sunday, Google said it would cut ties with Huawei to comply with the Trump administration’s decision to put Huawei on the so-called Entity List.

A day later, the U.S. Commerce Department granted a 90-day license for mobile phone companies to keep working with the Chinese tech company to keep existing networks online and protect users from security risks.

“Keeping phones up to date and secure is in everyone’s best interests and this temporary license allows us to continue to provide software updates and security patches to existing models for the next 90 days,” a Google spokesperson told The Hill.

The Commerce Department last week added Huawei and 68 other entities to the trade blacklist.

Groups on the Entity List are deemed to be threats to U.S. national security.

Authorities have cautioned that Huawei’s close connections to the Chinese government could result in spying in places where the company has hardware though Huawei has denied that claim.