US officials renewed a special licence allowing Huawei to continue doing business with domestic companies for another 90 days, despite pushback from President Donald Trump over the weekend.

Commerce secretary Wilbur Ross said in a statement while officials “continue to urge consumers to transition away from Huawei’s products, we recognise that more time is necessary to prevent any disruption”.

In an interview with Fox Business Network, he noted the move is intended to help smaller US operators, which are dependent on the Chinese equipment vendor.

The Department of Commerce (DoC) originally added Huawei and dozens of its affiliates to a trade blacklist in May, but issued a special licence a week later allowing the company to temporarily continue doing business with US partners. That licence was set to expire on 19 August.

Over the weekend, Trump hinted the US might not grant an extension, reiterating claims Huawei represents a national security threat.

The renewed licence will expire on 19 November.

Ban expanded
However, it was not all good news for Huawei. Ross announced the DoC added 46 more Huawei subsidiaries to the Entity List, bringing the total number of blacklisted affiliates to more than 100.

He told Fox Business Network the move would help ensure “there are no loopholes” which would allow Huawei to circumvent the trade sanctions.

Additionally, though US companies are allowed to apply for special licences to continue doing business with Huawei over the long term, Ross said “no specific licences are being granted for anything” at this time.