Huawei’s founder says the company is well-prepared for U.S. restrictions

It’s been a tricky few days for Huawei, but its leader remains defiant.

Ren Zhengfei, the Chinese tech giant’s CEO and founder, told state media outlet the Global Times on Tuesday that the company is well-prepared for U.S. sanctions, adding that temporary relief from those trade restrictions doesn’t mean much to the company.

Huawei has reportedly stockpiled components and parts to ride out potential restrictions, which would be enough to last three months. 

Major U.S. suppliers to the company, including Intel and Qualcomm, had reportedly stopped supply to Huawei in light of Trump’s executive order — but Ren said these companies have also tried to assist Huawei in the dispute.

“In such a critical moment, I’m grateful to U.S. companies, as they’ve contributed a lot to Huawei’s development and showed their conscientiousness on the matter,” Ren said.

“As far as I know, U.S. companies have been making efforts to persuade the U.S. government to let them cooperate with Huawei.” 

Ren added that his company would always need U.S.-developed chipsets, and that it “can’t exclude American products with a narrow mind.”

In another report by the South China Morning Post, Ren also said that the conflict with the U.S. was inevitable.

“We sacrificed [the interests of] individuals and families for the sake of an ideal, to stand at the top of the world,” he said, according to the newspaper. “For this ideal, there will be conflict with the United States sooner or later.”

On Monday, the U.S. Department of Commerce issued a 90-day exemption on the trade restrictions, which prevented Huawei from purchasing products from U.S. companies unless it had U.S. government approval.

Huawei can continue to function normally, for now.