The US government pushed ahead with a proposal to limit Huawei’s access to certain components, as the administration continued to propose restrictions on the Chinese vendor’s international business due to concerns over spying, Reuters reported.

A measure agreed by cabinet members would require an export licence to supply components made using US-designed equipment to the Chinese vendor. It would also enable the US Department of Commerce (DoC) to block shipments to specific companies, Reuters stated.

The news agency cited a source who said the move targets Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company (TSMC), which makes chips for Huawei’s HiSilicon unit and is the world’s largest contract maker of semiconductors.

Doug Jacobson, a trade lawyer, said the move would have a more negative impact on US companies than Huawei, as the company is developing its own supply chain and, ultimately, will find alternatives, Reuters wrote.

While the rule could take weeks to finalise, the government’s plan apparently is to push the restrictions into effect without giving the chip industry an opportunity to comment, The Wall Street Journal reported.

In the first two months of the year, the US government twice proposed expanding trade restrictions to give it the authority to block global chip sales to Huawei, with the first move halted due to concerns about the potential impact to domestic businesses.

Huawei was added to an economic blacklist in May 2019. Two weeks ago, the DoC again issued a 45-day extension to temporary trading licences allowing US companies to continue to do business with the vendor, the latest in a series of postponements to implementing a trade ban.