Trump eases position on Huawei buying from US companies

The US president held talks with his Chinese counterpart about returning to trade negotiations

President Trump has eased his position slightly on Chinese manufacturer Huawei, allowing it to buy products from US companies.

The concession came as a result of talks with Chinese president Xi Jinping at the G20 summit in Osaka, Japan, where the two countries agreed to return to trade negotiations.

The two nations have been involved in an escalating trade war since last year, with the US banning Huawei kit from being used in its 5G infrastructure, claiming it is a national security risk. It has also encouraged ally countries to follow suit.

The US president suggested in a tweet that he would allow US companies to sell to the Chinese vendor as the move "will not impact our national security".

In return for no new trade tariffs, China agreed to make purchases of US farm products, the details of which were not specified by Trump.

"One of the things I will allow, however, is, a lot of people are surprised we send and we sell to Huawei a tremendous amount of product that goes into the various things that they make," Trump said.

"I said that that's OK, that we will keep selling that product. These are American companies… that make product and that's very complex, by the way, and highly scientific."

The US was threatening to slap new tariffs on $300bn (£237.4bn) of goods imported from China, and expanding the scope of products that would be hit by these fees.

Last week, HP, Dell, Intel and Microsoft wrote a letter to the US administration pleading not to go ahead with the proposed new tariffs.

Trump's move is in marked contrast to the first day of the G20 where he took a swipe at Huawei during a press conference.

"At the same time as we expand digital trade, we must also ensure the resilience and security of our 5G networks," he stated.

"This is essential to our shared safety and prosperity. Further, the US opposes data, localisation and policies that have been used to restrict digital trade flows and violate privacy and intellectual property protections."