American companies who count Huawei as a customer may soon get a more permanent reprieve from US restrictions on selling to the Chinese tech giant. And that could be good news for two Triangle tech companies.

Both Durham-based Cree and Greensboro-based Qorvo have reported negative impact from the crackdown on Huawei, which led each firm to restrict semiconductor and other technology sales.

Cree shares jumped some 3.5 percent and Qorvo shares were up some 1.6 percent in early trading.

Cree  CEO Gregg Lowe recently stated that the company is required by US law to obey the restrictions. And earlier this summer Qorvo restated earnings projections as the Huawei restrictions started to bite.

Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross told Bloomberg on Sunday that licenses allowing US companies to sell to Huawei “will be forthcoming very shortly.” He said his office has received 260 requests for licenses.

Huawei has become a pawn in the larger US-China trade war. Ross told Bloomberg the two sides are “making good progress” working on a deal to resolve the tensions. “Phase One” of that deal is expected to come later this month.

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Huawei is the world’s largest telecommunications company, second largest smartphone maker and a key customer for many US companies. The company says it purchased $11 billion in American products last year.

The US Commerce Department in May added Huawei to its Entity List, citing national security concerns. The action barred American companies from selling to Huawei without a license, though some have found limited ways around the restriction. The Commerce Department in August extended the “temporary general license” that has allowed American companies to continue some sales to Huawei, but it is set to expire in mid-November.

The Entity List action has hurt sales at a number of Huawei’s US suppliers, including chip manufacturers such as Micron and Intel, and software makers like Google. Many of those American sellers to Huawei have spoken out against the policy, saying it could lead to the development of similar products from Chinese companies and threaten American technological dominance.

Microsoft President Brad Smith told CNN’s Poppy Harlow last month that while he understands the desire to keep Huawei equipment out of the US wireless networks, he disagrees with the decision to restrict sales of US products to the Chinese company.

“If somebody from the government believes that Windows on a laptop sold by Huawei would create a national security risk to the United States, then of course that’s something that we want to talk about and think hard about. But we don’t think that is the case,” Smith said, adding that Microsoft had applied for a license.

US extends reprieve on tech sales to Huawei; NC-based Qorvo shares climb

“Right now, there is not a Chinese competitor in the PC operating system space. Is it really in the United States’ economic interest to create not only an incentive, but the necessity to go create a Chinese operating system? Because once it’s created, it will compete with us around the world,” Smith said.

US officials have long accused Huawei of working to undermine US national security and foreign policy interests. Ross has previously said that licenses will only be granted for sales of products that do not pose a national security risk.

Huawei fiercely denies that is poses any threat to the United States or that it has any connection to the Chinese government. The company has also held that it does not want to be part of a larger US-China trade deal and would prefer to work out a resolution with US officials directly.

Huawei and the Department of Commerce did not immediately respond to a request for comment.