Microsoft president and chief legal officer Brad Smith challenged the US to provide evidence on why it sees Huawei as a national security threat, insisting the government had yet to prove its case against the vendor, Bloomberg reported.

He told Bloomberg’s Businessweek the government’s treatment of Huawei is un-American and there is no reason the vendor should not be allowed to buy technology from US companies, including Microsoft.

While Microsoft requested details on the reasoning behind the sanctions, Smith explained: “Oftentimes, what we get in response is, ‘Well, if you knew what we knew, you would agree with us.’ And our answer is, ‘great, show us what you know so we can decide for ourselves. That’s the way this country works’.”

He said such major decisions as an export ban shouldn’t be made without a “sound basis in fact, logic, and the rule of law” and requires more reasoning.

US President Donald Trump claims Huawei’s leadership has ties to the Chinese army and Communist Party.

Huawei has repeatedly pushed US regulators for an explanation of the ban and strenuously denies all accusations against it.

Backtracking
Trump last week appeared to change his stance towards Huawei, stating the US wasn’t looking to include the company in any trade deal with China. This runs contrary to a view he expressed in late May, when he said the company could be part of an accord and pushed for an easing of restrictions on US companies supplying components and software to Huawei.

In May the US Department of Commerce added Huawei to blacklist of businesses barred from buying components from domestic companies and moving to block use of its equipment in the country’s telecommunications networks. The ban is scheduled to take full effect in November.