The US government targeted Huawei with additional trade restrictions, informing component suppliers it is revoking the licences required to export to the vendor and turning down requests for permits, Reuters reported.

Suppliers holding special licences which were notified of the move include Intel, with the US Department of Commerce (DoC) stating in an email it “intends to deny a significant number of licence requests for exports to Huawei and a revocation of at least one previously issued licence”, the news agency wrote.

Sources told Reuters eight licences were pulled from four companies, including Japanese flash memory chip maker Kioxia.

A Huawei representative declined to comment on the report, which it told Mobile World Live is yet to be confirmed.

The companies notified have 20 days to respond to the DoC, which has 40 days to advise them of any change in a decision. The companies then have 45 days to appeal, Reuters said.

Huawei was put on a DoC list restricting its access to US suppliers due to national security concerns in May 2019. The move prevents Huawei from buying components from US companies which don’t hold a licence.

Chinese media previously reported Qualcomm, Micron Technology, Samsung, SK Hynix, Macronix International and Chinese chip company Semiconductor Manufacturing International Corp submitted applications, but only Intel publicly stated it had been approved.

In the final weeks of his administration, US President Donald Trump (pictured) stepped up his aggressive campaign against China.

Last week, Xiaomi was added to a list of companies deemed to have links with the Chinese military, while China found itself among several countries facing restrictions on network technology purchases due to supply chain security concerns.

Transactions with a host of Chinese apps have also been banned, and the New York Stock Exchange delisted the nation’s big-three mobile operators.