Trump Aide Talks Up US Sales To Huawei

As China and the United States pursue trade talks, there is a "good chance" that more US firms will be granted licenses to sell products to controversial Chinese telecoms giant Huawei, White House economic advisor Larry Kudlow said on Sunday.

Kudlow's comments came after presidents Xi Jinping and Donald Trump agreed on Saturday to a truce in their trade war, and Washington pledged to hold off on new tariffs while they negotiate.

While Trump had signaled the softer position on Huawei, a sticking point in trade talks, by saying US companies could sell equipment "where there's no great national security problem," Kudlow added a bit of detail.

The senior Trump aide told "Fox News Sunday" that "there's a good chance the Commerce Department, Secretary (Wilbur) Ross, will open the door on that and grant new licenses."

The US has said it fears that systems built by Huawei – the world leader in telecom network equipment and number two smartphone supplier – could be used by Beijing for espionage via built-in secret security "backdoors."

Huawei has vigorously denied that, saying the US has never provided proof to substantiate it.

Many US lawmakers, including Senate Republicans like Ted Cruz and Marco Rubio, are concerned about any lifting of the effective ban against Huawei accessing crucial American technology or operating in the US market.

"If President Trump has agreed to reverse recent sanctions against Huawei, he has made a catastrophic mistake," Rubio tweeted on Saturday. (AFP)