The U.S. Department of Commerce said on Tuesday it was extending a license allowing U.S. companies to continue doing business with China’s Huawei Technologies Co Ltd until May 15.

The extension of the so-called Temporary General License (TGL) for Huawei Technologies Co. Ltd. and its non-United States affiliates (Huawei) on the Entity List. will allow Huawei to purchase some American-made goods in a move aimed at minimizing disruption for its customers, many of which operate wireless networks in rural America.

Huawei, the second-largest maker of smartphones, is a major telecom equipment that provides 5G network technology.

Separately, the U.S. Commerce Department sought public comments on whether it should issue future extensions and asked what was the “impact on your company or organization if the temporary general license is not extended?” The Commerce Department also asked about the costs associated with ending the licenses.

The department has said the licenses allow rural carriers to continue to service customers in some of the most remote areas of the United States.

Huawei was added to the Entity List after the U.S. government concluded the company "poses a significant risk of involvement in activities contrary to the national security or foreign policy interests of the United States, including by engaging, among other things, in alleged violations of the International Emergency Economic Powers Act (IEEPA), conspiracy to violate IEEPA by causing the export, reexport, sale and supply of goods, technology, and services to Iran, and obstruction of justice in connection with the investigation of those alleged violations of U.S. sanctions."

The Trump administration has been urging foreign governments to bar Huawei from building 5G networks.

In November, the Federal Communications Commission voted unanimously to designate Huawei and ZTE Corp as national security risks, effectively barring their rural customers in the United States from tapping an $8.5 billion government fund to purchase equipment.

Last month, Congress passed legislation to reimburse telecommunications providers with fewer than 2 million customers who replace equipment in their networks deemed to pose a national security risk.