Huawei Technology Co. Ltd.'s suppliers are hoping for better days under the new U.S. president. The previous administration blacklisted the China technology company in May 2019.
Semiconductor companies supplying products to Huawei are hoping for more time to appeal former U.S. President Donald Trump's last-minute orders against Huawei.
Five sources with knowledge of the situation said Huawei suppliers hoped the new administration would be more considerate.
While some believe President Joe Biden won't be substantially "softer," they are hoping he will at least give them additional time to organize their appeals.
The goal is to get at least several rejected Huawei sales reversed. The China company remains one of their largest customers.
Before leaving office Trump left around 300 applications for sales to Huawei pending. The applications had stated values of $296 billion. He also denied $119 billion in applications. Only four license applications were approved.
An executive of one supplier who declined to be identified said "everyone is deflated."
Earlier this week, Huawei asked a court to overturn the Federal Communications Commission's designation of Huawei as a national security threat.
The designation paved the way for the ban on Huawei purchases and sales and was the final move in getting the company blacklisted in the U.S.
"The order on review potentially impacts the financial interests of the telecommunications industry as a whole," Huawei said in its request.
However, it appears the new administration won't relax on Huawei. A representative for the commission told The Verge the agency would "continue to defend" the designation.
The new administration's nominee for secretary of the Commerce Department, Gina Raimondo, said previously there was "no reason" to lift the ban.
Huawei chief executive Ren Zhengfei said he would welcome a phone conversation with the new U.S. president. "I would welcome such phone calls and the message is around joint development and shared success," Ren said.
Ren, the founder of Huawei, has seen his company under pressure for two years.
Meanwhile, the Biden administration asked a U.S. court Thursday to suspend litigation connected to former president Trump's proposed ban on WeChat while it reviews the policy.
The Justice Department filed a request with the U.S. Court of Appeals seeking a suspension of the case. That follows action Wednesday when the department asked a federal court for a pause on proceedings aimed at banning TikTok.
Commerce Department officials have begun a review of the prior administration's actions on WeChat, including "an evaluation of the underlying record justifying those prohibitions," the department said in the filing.
"The government will then be better positioned to determine" whether "the regulatory purpose of protecting the security of Americans and their data, continue to warrant the identified prohibitions," the filing added.
Trump issued an executive order August declaring both WeChat and TikTok as threats to national security because of data collection practices affecting Americans.
