The US government is still determined on blacklisting Huawei in most aspects, but the tech behemoth form China just got an essential pardon. The Commerce Department has awarded Microsoft a permit to “export huge-market software” to Huawei, as per a statement by Microsoft to the media. The US firm refused to state just what “mass-market” indicated, but Office and Windows theoretically count—Huawei may not have issue providing service devices such as the MateBook X Pro.

The Commerce Department has displayed a readiness to bend on its stand in a few cases, providing temporary permits to keep gear operating. Wilbur Ross (the Commerce Secretary) has also clued for a while that some firms might get permission for licenses, even though he also alerted that a number of them might expectedly be shot down.

Google has not got permission so far, although, and that is having an impact on Huawei’s business. Without that permission, Huawei has to export Android handsets without Google apps irrespective of where they will be traded. That can simply be understood as a drawback for users who hope for Gmail, Chrome, and other mainstay apps by Google on their phones.

Not that US executives are probably to sympathize. They are majorly worried about the potential for Huawei to assist China in spying on the cellular networks in the US, and handsets can contribute to that hypothetically. The US has not shown proof of active surveillance by China, but the mere doubt of it has led the US policies as of late. Unless Huawei and Google can convince executives that the phones are not threats, the two firms will be out of luck for the predictable future. Now it remains to be seen if this can impact the users or Huawei in any other manner.