In a yet another development in the ensuing trade conflict between the world’s two super-economies, the US government has blacklisted the leading telecom company Huawei by bringing the latter under the purview of strict sanctions on Wednesday. The move has further soured the already tense situation between the US and China owing to the ongoing trade war.

Meanwhile, US Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin has said that further talks with China on the issue can be expected when the former visit the country soon. The move which came into effect Wednesday has placed Huawei Technologies Co Ltd and 70 more affiliates on its “Entity List”, meaning that the Chinese telecom giant will now be banned from obtaining components and technology from companies in the US without the permission of the Trump government.

According to US Commerce Secretary, Wilbur Ross, this strict step by the Trump administration is a move to “prevent American technology from being used by foreign-owned entities in ways that potentially undermine US national security or foreign policy interests.”

In an earlier move on Wednesday, the Trump government passed an executive order that restrains US firms from using any telecom equipment which is produced by ‘firms’ likely to pose a threat to the country’s national security.

Although there is no specific mention of any name of any particular company or country in the said government order, it may not be very difficult to guess who the US government is referring to. Past evidence suggests that US officials have time and again pointed fingers at Huawei, terming the latter as a “threat” and provoking its allies to refrain from using the telecom leader’s network equipment in any of their GenNext 5G mobile networks.

Defying these accusations, Huawei maintains that none of its products are a threat to US national security, adding that the company is “ready and willing to engage with the US government and come up with effective measures to ensure product security.”