The US Department of Commerce (DoC) gave the green light for a select number of domestic companies to resume sales to Huawei, as the agency began processing applications from suppliers hoping to skirt a trade ban levied on the Chinese vendor in May, Reuters reported.

Sources told the news agency the DoC thus far reviewed around half of nearly 300 applications it received for special trade licences. Approximately 75 were granted approval.

The DoC said in a statement to Reuters the licences cover “limited and specific activities which do not pose a significant risk to the national security or foreign policy interests”. However, it did not disclose which companies or components won approval.

In an interview with Bloomberg earlier this month, commerce secretary Wilbur Ross said the government was surprised by the large number of requests it received from suppliers looking to continue sales to Huawei.

Though Huawei landed on a US trade blacklist in May, the vendor has been able to keep working with US partners on a limited basis under a special temporary licence. Earlier this week, the DoC extended that temporary authority to run through mid-February, but the approvals it is now issuing will provide longer-term certainty for both Huawei and its suppliers.